A Taste of Perfection
by x0-vindicated-0x
Summary: Casey's had that taste of perfection, a sense of what it's like to have the perfect guy. Now, back in the real world, she is having a hard time accepting that Derek isn't as perfect as he was before. Dasey sequel to Be Careful What you Wish For
1. A Typical Morning

**This is the sequel to 'Be Careful What You Wish For' . It takes place four months after that ended. The story doesn't revolve a lot around what happened before, it's got its own plotline, showing their relationship after the wish was counteracted. I'll try to update quickly, but in the beginning it might be a bit slower than BCWYWF. Not a whole lot though! Anyways, you know the drill, read and review. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**Chapter One: A Typical Morning**

There was something about mornings that Casey loved. She couldn't put her finger on it. Mornings just made her happy. Maybe it was the start of a new day, maybe it was the fact that it gave her a sense of normalty, getting up and arguing with Derek over the bathroom, or helping Marti with her makeup. Those were some of the things that she had taken for granted before her wishing encounter had occured.

It had been almost four months since she had gotten back to her usual world; and she had never been happier. Her whole family had seen a bit of an attitude change in her since she had gotten back . From the moment she had stepped in through the front door that night, she had tried her best not to let herself get too angry with anyone in her family more than once a day. She valued them now more than ever. She recognized that they all had their faults, but they were still her family, and she appreciated that.

On one particular Friday morning, she woke up to the sound of Edwin arguing with Lizzie over who would get to go first in the bathroom.

"You got to go first yesterday!" Lizzie was yelling from the hallway. "And the day before that even! Besides, I'm a girl, we take longer to get ready then boys."

"That's the worst excuse I've ever heard." Edwin retorted angrily. "Girls only take longer because they are way too particular."

Casey groaned and rolled over, rubbing her eyes sleepily. As much as she loved mornings, the arguing between the younger two was getting just a bit out of hand. Yawning, she got up out of bed and stretched, looking around at the familar surroundings of her bedroom. She would never get sick of seeing familiarity around her. She knew that she wouldn't get into the bathroom just yet; as one of her younger siblings ( she couldn't tell who ) had just shut the bathroom door. She preoccupied herself by making up her bed and getting her clothes ready for school.

When she heard the shower shut off, she made her way out into the hallway in time to see Lizzie dart by in her pajamas, hair up in a towel. She smirked. MacDonalds always won the war over the shower. She stepped into the bathroom and was just about to shut the door when she felt someone step in behind her and shut the door. She felt herself being pressed up against the door and looked up to see Derek smirking down at her.

"I hope you don't think your getting in here before me or something." he said, raising an eyebrow at her. "Because that is _so _not going to happen. I won't let it happen."

"Oh, you mean like you haven't been letting it happen the other four mornings this week?" she asked knowingly, smirking at him. "Or was that just a fluke?"

"I decided to be nice." he said, shrugging. "But I can't do too much of that. I have a reputation to protect don't I?"

"Yeah, we wouldn't want it to get out that Derek Venturi is actually a softie now would we?"

"That stays between you and me." he warned her, trying to look threatening, but failing terribly.

Before she could say anything else to him, he leaned down and kissed her gently. They had been together for almost four months now, but his kisses still gave Casey the same thrill as they had the first time. She always felt her stomach drop pleasantly; a reminder of how right they were for each other.

Derek hadn't changed entirely now that he was her boyfriend. His favourite passtime was still annoying her, and the occasional insult was still thrown her way, but it all had a playful nature to it now, and they both knew that through it all, he meant well. He made up for it anyway. Casey would have never thought of Derek as a romantic, but he really was. He had a habit of saying the sweetest things, even if they were often accompanied by a self-aimed compliment or a sarcastic statement. He knew how to find a perfect balance between romance and their playful bantering.

Sometimes she had to admit that the Derek from her wish was a lot sweeter than the one she was dealing with now. He had this certain caring atmosphere about him back then that Derek didn't quite manage to capture now. But everytime she longed for the Derek from her wish, she remembered what had happened in the end, and found herself grateful that she had gotten him back.

Their parents didn't know of course. They were scared that if they told their parents, they would be seperated, so they had decided to keep it a secret until they were old enough to make their own decisions without their parents consent. Derek had decided that. When he had mentioned it, Casey had been shocked that he'd even thought that far ahead. After all, they were only seventeen. Was he really that serious about their relationship? She was, but she hadn't really figured that Derek was too serious about it yet. They'd never even said 'I love you.' She had never given it any real thought, but she did love him. She figured he had to know that. She just didn't want to be the first to say it, in case he didn't feel that way yet. She could only assume that he knew it.

Quite a few people knew about their relationship. Edwin, Lizzie and Marti all knew. Casey had told Lizzie, and Derek had told Edwin. Neither of them could really figure out how Marti knew, but she did. Neither Derek or Casey had told her, so they could only assume that she had seen them together or something. They didn't bother questioning it.

Sam and Emily knew about them. They were both totally supportive of the relationship, saying that they had seen it coming all along. Casey and Derek both highly doubted that, but they didn't argue with them on it. They were just glad that their friends hadn't been disgusted by the idea.

They had never really officially told people at school that they were together; they had just let people find out on their own. They didn't try and hide their relationship in school, which basically meant that by the time the first week of school had ended, pretty much everyone knew. News travelled fast in high school. Casey and Derek were just glad that the news hadn't spread back to their parents. They had managed to keep it hidden for four months, and that morning; as they were standing there in the bathroom, their parents were downstairs in the kitchen, once again clueless to the activities of their eldest two upstairs.

Derek was still kissing Casey, completely clueless to the fact that they had moved away from the wall and were now slowly backing up towards the door. Casey reached one hand up and tangled it through his hair to distract him as she reached behind him with the other and opened the door. Before he had a chance to register what was happening, she had broke apart from him and pushed him out of the bathroom.

He stumbled, before regaining his balance and blinking at her a couple of times, looking as though he still didn't have a clue what had just happened.

"What did you-"

"Here's a tip for you Venturi." she said as she tapped her fingers against the doorknob teasingly. "Don't let your gaurd down. That makes you weak."

Without another word, she had kicked the door closed, leaving a completely dumbfounded Derek standing on the other side, defeated. Turning the knobs to the shower on, she smirked and rolled her eyes.

"Sucker."

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**So this chapter was sort of boring, it was kind of just an intro into everything else. Review! The second chapter should be up soon! **


	2. Insensitive Jerks and SuperKeeners

**Not much to say except here is chapter two! Thank you for reviewing, so continue to do so please!**

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing .This situation is getting awful desperate. **

**Chapter Two: Insensitive Jerks and Super-Keeners**

It was days like this one that gave Casey a headache. It was only lunchtime, and already she wanted to go to sleep and not wake up until morning came again. She had been hit on the head with a basketball during gym class, she had forgotten her lunch, and their english teacher had surprised them with a pop quiz on a book she had forgotten to finish reading. She made a mental note to hit Derek for that later. She would have been able to finish reading the book if he hadn't insisted on having one of their little makeout sessions in her bedroom. Not that she really minded of course.

So by the time she had taken a seat at the lunch table, empty handed, she was not in the best of moods.

"Something wrong Casey?" Emily asked her friend as Casey placed her chin in her hand, glaring at the wall. Casey shot her a look that quite clearly said 'You think?', and Emily dropped the subject at once . Sheldon , god bless him, was as clueless as they came, and did not pick up on the hint to shut up.

"Just remember Casey, for every bad day comes two good ones!"

Casey shot him a death glare and he lowered his gaze to his tray, poking at his food with his fork. Casey couldn't blame him for not eating it. He had bought his lunch today, and his meatloaf was a nasty beigeish color, leaving Casey to wonder if it was even meat at all.

She was just wondering this when Derek slipped into the seat next to her, slapping his biology book down onto the table. He placed his lunch down next to it and gave Casey a quick kiss on the cheek, grinning at her.

"Hey babe." he said, before turning to his best friend. "Sam, coach said to let you know that we've got practice after school."

Casey raised her head and looked over at Derek, confusion dawning across her features instantly.

"Derek I thought we were going to go to the mall after school?" she asked him, frowning. "You told me last night you were still going."

Derek leaned in closer to her, so that they could continue their conversation privately. The rest of them caught the hint, and continued talking amongst themselves. Casey looked at Derek expectantly. She was glad to see that he at least looked genuinely sorry that he had to cancel their plans.

"Look Case; I know we had plans today but the coach changed our practice time this morning and I've got to go. I'm captain." he whispered to her, trying to explain himself as quickly as possible. "If I could get out of it I would but I just can't. I hope you understand."

"Oh." Casey sighed, disappointed. "Well that's alright then. I understand how important hockey is to you and .. I know you're the captain. If you've got to be there, then go on."

"Thanks for understanding." he said, grinning at her. He made to turn back to their friends, but she brushed her hand lightly against his shoulder, turning him back towards her.

"I really do want to spend some more time with you though." she tried to tell him. This was something that had been on her mind for a while now. "I mean, alone time is hard enough to find at home. I like going out , you know? When we're out we don't really have to hide anything. And we haven't really spent all that much time together lately."

"What are you talking about Case?" he asked, taking a bite of his sandwich. "We spend tons of time together."

Casey could tell that he was trying to avoid the subject, and she hated that. As much as she loved him, she hated how much he avoided serious conversations sometimes. Making sure that he couldn't turn away from her and go back to their friends, she kept a firm hold on his elbow to keep his attention.

"It just seems like we haven't been seeing all that much of each other lately." she tried to explain, but he was so busy listening to Sam talk about the hockey game that had been on last night that he was barely paying any attention to what she was saying. Casey sighed and tapped his shoulder lightly to get his attention again.

"Derek? Derek are you even listening to me?"

Derek turned back to her, a half smile still on his face from his conversation about hockey a few moments before. He waved a hand dismissively, clearly indicating that the conversation was not important to him.

"Yeah babe of course I'm listening to you." he lied, smiling at her. "You want to spend more time together and you think we don't see each other that much or something. I get it. I'll make it up to you, I promise. It's just one practice."

"It's not about the practice Der." she said quietly, but he had completely tuned her out now. She sighed and laid her head down on the table. She could feel Dereks hand rubbing small circles on her back, but she was really in no mood to put up with him at the moment. She listened to Emily and Sheldon talking about a movie that they had seen the night before, and Sam and Derek talking about the hockey game. She just didn't feel like her presence was even known there. Sighing, she lifted her forehead off of the table and stood up, slinging her bookbag over her shoulder. She looked down at Derek and forced a smile.

"I'm going to go to the library and study a bit before class, alright?" she said to him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Derek looked up at her, only now registering the fact that she had been strangely silent for the past ten minutes. He looked down at the table, and back up at her again, as though something had just occured to him. A moment later, he voiced his thoughts.

"Babe did you even eat anything?" he asked, brushing bread crumbs off of his shirt. Casey gave him an almost cold smile.

"I forgot my lunch if you hadn't already noticed." she said, giving him a piercing look. "Anyway, I'm gone. I'll see you at home Derek. Bye everyone."

She heard a chorus of 'goodbyes' behind her as she picked up her water bottle and started off towards the library. If at all possible, her bad mood from this morning had tripled, thanks to Derek. She did love being his girlfriend and everything, but there were times when he completely disgusted her. This was one of those times. He had a way of ignoring her whenever he was talking to his friends, or whenever she was trying to talk to him about something serious. She had to admit, he could be very serious sometimes, but it was only when it suited him. She wasn't even mad that he had to go to practice, she was just mad that when she tried to tell him how she had been feeling lately, he had completely blown her off. That wasn't something that the Derek from the wish would have done.

Casey made her way through the students that were standing around in the hall chatting or studying, or even the select few who were sitting by their lockers finishing off their lunches. She had almost reached the library when she heard footsteps running down the hall after her and a clear, distinct;

"Casey!"

Stopping with her hand on the doorknob, she sighed deeply and turned to see Derek darting through the crowds of students to get to her. She rolled her eyes and folded her arms in front of her chest, wondering what he wanted to say. When he finally reached her, he was out of breath. He reached behind him into his bag and pulled out something wrapped in tinfoil.

"Here, eat this." he said, offering it to her. "It's half of my lunch. I didn't know you didn't have anything, honest I never."

Casey smiled up at him. She hadn't even been mad about that. Forgetting everything that had happened five minutes before, she leaned up and gave him a quick kiss.

"Thank you Derek." she said, smiling at him. "You're the sweetest. Anyway, I'll go eat this in the library I guess. I'll study or something. I'll let you get back downstairs. Sam and the rest of your friends are probably waiting for you."

She didn't say it bitterly, she said it honestly. It was awful sweet of him to chase her up three flights of stairs and down countless halls just to make sure she had something to eat. Honestly, if he had done that for her, she really didn't mind him returning to hang out with his friends. So she was surprised when Derek shook his head at her.

"Nah, I told them I was going to stay up here with you. I'm already up here anyways" he said, offering a shrug. "Besiedes, I sort of feel bad that I had to cancel our plans after school so .. the least I could do is to keep you company up here, even if it means being surrounded by a bunch of super-keeners."

"Keeners huh?" Casey asked, laughing as she took Dereks hand and led him into the library with her. "I hope that isn't the way you see me."

"You, Casey MacDonald may be a super-keener, but you're my super-keener." he grinned as they sat down together, her hand releasing his as she began to unwrap the foil that held what Derek had saved for her out of his lunch. She opened it to see that he had left her over half of his sandwich, and a full apple.

As she ate her lunch and he chatted with her, she felt everything settle back to normal. Derek was being his sweet self again, and she knew that things would probably be fine for another day or so. But she knew that no matter what, something like this would happen again. She hadn't really given it too much thought, but when she did, she realized that he always pulled something like this. He'd act like an uncaring jerk, and then do something sweet to make up for it. She supposed that it was all a part of being in a relationship, but this half sweet, half irritating Derek was hard to get used to after first dealing with him as the worlds sweetest guy in her alternate universe. She supposed it was having a taste of perfection that was making her over analyze Derek now, and she knew that wasn't fair. No matter what happened, she would never wish to go back to that life; it was too risky. She liked her life now, even if it meant hiding her relationship with a slightly different Derek. Everytime she wanted the old Derek back, she reminded herself how it had felt to think that she'd lost him, and she'd suddenly just be grateful to have him with her period.

So she tried to push the fact that their relationship was often so unstable from her mind and just reminded herself that they always worked things out in the end. They were just going through a rough patch, that was all. They would make it through. She'd make sure of it.

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**Hope you liked it. Review please! I always appreciate feedback! Expect an update soon. ( even sooner with reviews, hint hint!! ) **


	3. Excuses and Suspicions

**Enjoy chapter three. Thank you to those of you reviewing, and please continue to review!**

**Chapter Three: Excuses and Suspicions**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot! Oh and Meghan too I guess !**

Casey leaned her head back against her locker, sighing impatiently. She watched as other students walked past her, talking and laughing, glad that the weekend had finally arrived. She watched as the last few students made their way towards the front entrance, ready to leave school and enjoy their weekend. She checked her watch again and saw that it was three twenty five. She was getting impatient with Derek. He was supposed to have met her when the final bell rang at three o'clock, but yet here she was twenty five minutes later, still waiting for him. She flipped open her cellphone to dial his cell phone number again, but for the fourth time, she got his voicemail. She snapped her phone shut and stored it in her pocket. She knew this was going to happen. It was only a week after the first incident, and here she was again, being let down by Derek. Well she wasn't going to wait around all day for him.

She opened her locker and grabbed her coat and bookbag off of their respective hooks before closing it again and making her way down the hallway towards the main entrance. As she stepped outside into the Canadian cold, she glanced around , trying to see if Derek was among the crowds of students still outside. She saw Sam, Emily, Kendra and Ralph, but she didn't see Derek. Go figure.

Annoyed, she started walking down the path, only to have Derek step in front of her, his cheeks red from the cold. He was grinning at her in a guilty sort of way. He took a deep breath, watching her as she crossed her arms in front of her chest angrily.

"There's a simple explanation for this." he said, smiling at her. She raised her eyebrows, waiting for this so called 'explanation.' The smile wiped off of his face as he saw that she was not impressed and he sighed. "I forgot."

That was all it took for Casey to snap. She unfolded her arms and glared at Derek, completely disgusted with him.

"You _forgot_?" she asked, emphasizing the last word. "How do you forget to meet your girlfriend Derek? How hard is it to remember? You walk home with me everyday."

"Well yeah but .. I was walking with one of my friends and I sort of .. lost track of the time." he said, shrugging. Casey could have sworn that he was blushing, but his cheeks were already flushed from the cold, so it was nearly impossible to tell the difference. She opened her mouth to ask who was so important that he had forgotten to meet her, when a blonde girl appeared at Dereks side, smiling flirtatiously at him and placing a hand on his shoulder. If looks could kill, the girl would be six feet under right now from the look Casey was shooting her.

"Sorry Derek, I completely spaced out and forgot to give your notebook back to you." the girl said to Derek, clinging to his arm casually. "Anyway, thought I'd better give it to you in case you needed it for the weekend. Thanks for walking me to my locker."

"It was no problem, really." Derek said nervously, his eyes darting back and forth between the girl clinging to his arm and his girlfriend. He offered Casey a sheepish grin, which she repaid with a glare. The girl took no notice of the exchange between the two, and continued smiling.

''Anyway, I'd better be going." she said, not taking her eyes off of Derek. "Thank you again. See you Monday."

With that said, the girl let go of Dereks arm and sauntered off in the direction she came from. Casey saw her glance over her shoulder at Derek to see if Derek was watching her leave, but he only had eyes for Casey. It was clear now that he was blushing. Casey looked from the girl, and back to Derek, placing a hand on her hip angrily. Her expression was stony as she looked at Derek, waiting for an explanation. When he didn't give one, she spoke up, her tone harsh and unforgiving.

"So _that's _why you didn't meet me at my locker when you were supposed to!" she declared angrily, gesturing towards the general direction the girl had gone in. "You were too busy entertaining your newest little fan. That's alright Derek, I completely understand."

"Casey please don't overreact about this." he said desperately, clutching her wrist to keep her from leaving. "It's not the way it seems. I didn't ditch you for her or anything. It's just .. she's new here and-"

"And you figured you could flirt with her because she wouldn't know that you had a girlfriend yet." Casey suggested, her eyebrows arched suspiciously. Derek stared at her for a moment, hurt flashing across his features for a moment, before settling into an expression of disbelief.

"Casey .. do you really think I'd do something like that to you?" he asked quietly, dropping her wrist. "Because I've got to tell you, that hurts. And it really wasn't like that. Meghan is new here and she was in my history class just then. She was having a hard time finding her locker so I helped her. No big deal."

"She seemed to be awful flirty with you though." Casey said disapprovingly. "You can't tell me that you didn't notice that."

Derek looked for a moment as though he was going to consider denying the fact that Meghan had been flirting him, but he must have realized that lying didn't work on Casey, because he shrugged and nodded his head, agreeing with her.

"Yeah, I did notice that." he admitted. "But it doesn't matter if she flirts with me. At least, it shouldn't. She doesn't mean a thing to me alright? Sure she's nice and all but you're my girlfriend. That's not going to change. I was just helping her, that's all."

Casey considered what he had said for a moment, studying his worried face carefully. He was being honest, she could tell, and after all; this _was_ the first time that he had forgotten to meet up with her when he said he would. He was just trying to be nice by helping a new student out. Remembering her first day at Thompson High, she recalled how hard it had been to know no one, and to have no clue where you were going or where your classes were. If it hadn't been for Emily stepping in and helping her, she would have probably wandered around aimlessly searching for her classes for weeks on end. Derek was just trying to be a good person. Who was she to get mad at him for that? Relaxing a bit, she took a step towards him and gave him a half smile.

"I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions." she said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck and staring up at him. "But you do know that this all leads back to my theory that deep down, you really are a softie?"

Dereks eyes widened and he clamped a hand over her mouth, pressing a finger to his lips urgently. He glanced over his shoulder before removing his hand from her mouth carefully and leaning in close.

"Casey what have I told you?" he said, trying not to laugh. "You don't let that sort of thing slip out! Especially not at school! That's just our little secret. Sheesh."

Casey rolled her eyes at his joke and smacked his shoulder lightly, seeing as it was the only part of him she could reach with her hands hanging behind his neck. He didn't say anything, but he placed his hands on her sides and smiled down at her.

"You're really weird, you know that right?" Casey said, biting her lip. "By the way, if you ever blow me off to walk some other girl to her locker again, I might not be so forgiving."

"Well aren't we feeling rather self-important?" Derek said, raising his eyebrows at her before his expression turned somewhat serious. "So you aren't mad at me?"

Casey sighed and looked up at Derek. Sure he had his flaws, but he was still her boyfriend. It wasn't like he had meant to forget about her. She could forgive him, as long as it didn't happen again.

"No I'm not mad at you." she sighed. "I can't stay mad at you; you know that. Now come on, let's just go home. It's freezing out here."

With that said, Derek took her hand in his and they started off towards home, their little fight forgotten. They held hands the whole way home as they talked about their weekend plans. They always tried to plan out where they were going, and where they would each tell their parents they were going so that they wouldn't suspect anything. They were so preoccupied with each other that they never even noticed Noras car was in the driveway. Casey was the one who opened up the front door and was laughing and pulling Derek along behind her when she heard a voice speak up from across the living room.

"Someone get me a camera." the voice said, and Casey turned around; startled by the voice. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw her mother there, eyebrows raised suggestively. "This is truly a picture perfect moment. Casey and Derek, getting along."

She paused, looking completely awed by what she had just said. She shook her head as though trying to shake herself out of some sort of trance.

"Wow." she mused. "Even the words sound strange to my ears."

Coming to her senses, Casey dropped Dereks hand immediately and took a step away from him. She was shaking out of fear, but she tried to keep a calm and collective composure, so it wouldn't seem like she had been trying to hide something . She looked over at Derek to see him staring at Nora in a similar manner.

"M-Mom." Casey got out, trying to steady her shaky voice. "What are you doing home already? You're usually not off until four. I didn't uh .. expect you here already."

"I'll bet you didn't." she said, with a suggestive glance at Derek. Casey blushed and tried to concentrate on what her mother was saying. "I had a doctors appointment at two thirty and after that I just took the rest of the afternoon off. Why are you two late getting home? School got out almost an hour ago."

"Detention." Casey lied immediately. She racked her brain for any plausible excuse as to why they had both received a detention on the same day. "You see, Derek changed the lock on my locker to make me late for my first class so I sort of started yelling at him in the middle of class. Anyway, I got detention for disrupting class or something, and Derek got detention for changing my lock in the first place."

Casey could see Derek smirking out of the corner of her eye, clearly impressed by her lying skills. Having to use their combined brainpower to come up with all of these excuses as to why they were always out of the house at the same time had certainly improved Caseys ability to come up with a lie; especially when it was an emergency like now. Her mother remained silent for a moment, studying the two of them with curiousity and suspicion. Casey was almost certain that her mother was going to ask why they had been getting along so well when they came in through the front door, but for whatever reason, she dismissed the topic.

"Dinner will be ready at five." Nora said, taking a sip of her tea and turning back to her newspaper. "See you then.''

Casey glanced over her shoulder at Derek and she could tell that he was thinking the same thing as her. Nora hadn't forgotten about them holding hands coming in through the front door; she simply hadn't mentioned it to them. And they both had a strong feeling that she didn't believe for one second that they had been in detention. But right now, there was nothing they could do about that so they made their way slowly upstairs, keeping a clear foot of distance between them until they were upstairs, completely out of Noras sight. When they came to the wall between their two rooms, Derek grabbed her and pressed her against the wall, tangling a hand through her hair and smirking.

"You shouldn't be telling lies Casey, it's not good for you." he whispered to her, to squash any chance that Nora might have of hearing them. Casey smirked back up at him, arching her eyebrows.

"Telling lies is what keeps us together Der." she reminded him, rubbing small circles on his cheek with her thumb. "So if you want me to revert to being an honest, truthful soul, you're going to have to sacrifice some things; mainly our relationship."

"Well in that case, keep on lying." Derek said, his eyes darting back and forth between each of hers. "Besides, you're getting pretty good at it."

Casey laughed, laying her forehead against his chest for a moment before looking back up into his eyes. She was grinning as she replied.

"I'm not sure whether I should take that as a compliment or an insult." she said, but was cut off when his lips covered hers with a kiss. She let both of her hands press against his chest, right between them as she kissed him back. They only let it last for a moment before breaking it; it was too risky with Nora already suspicious of them downstairs. Derek was the one to pull back, still breathless from the kiss.

"Compliment." Casey decided with a grin. "Definitly a compliment. Now go in your own room. I'm going to do my homework."

"It's Friday afternoon." Derek said as loud as he would allow himself, his eyes widening. "We just got home. Who the hell does homework on a Friday afternoon?"

"Who the hell does homework on a Friday afternoon?" Casey repeated him, looking slightly amused by his reaction. She put on her best thinking face. "Well let's think about this for a second. How about the girl who has a model grade point average to maintain, who hates procrastination, and who has a boyfriend who will most likely occupy the rest of her time this weekend."

"Alright I get it." Derek said with a roll of the eyes. He gave her one more quick kiss before releasing her and taking a step away from her. "See you later."

Casey watched as he went into his own room, closing the door. She could hear him flop down onto his bed and turn his stereo on, blasting his music. She sighed. Of course he wouldn't take this oppurtunity to get his own homework finished. She knew that he would leave it until the last possible second, and then come to her late Sunday night asking for help. She'd always help him of course, because she didn't know how to turn him away ( especially when he used his kisses as a reward ). Rolling her eyes, she made her way into her own bedroom, placing her bookbag on her bed and seating herself next to it, prepared to get her work finished. One of them had to be serious about school.

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**There is the third chapter. I'll post chapter four soon, but it'll go quicker with reviews as always (: so click that little button down there, it's just begging you to do it! Don't let it down! **


	4. Lies and Dates

**This chapter was late for several reasons. I'm not going to go into detail, but it was basically a combination of spending Saturday reading the new Harry Potter ( who else read it? -squeal- ), having family down from away, being hit with writers block, and the fact that I really didn't want to post while fanfiction was so messed up. ( is it still messed up for everyone else? ) My alerts are all screwed up and everything is being displayed wrong. Anyway I was going to hold out until it got fixed but who knows how long that'll be so I hope the chapter works anyway. So read and continue to review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything!**

**Chapter Four: Lies and Dates**

"Awesome dinner Dad." Derek said as he laid his fork down and stretched his hands above his head. "For once anyway. I can admit that your cooking has improved."

"You see that?" Nora said to her husband, who was glancing at Derek suspiciously, as though he was positive his son was being sarcastic. Nora smiled. "You got a compliment out of Derek. And trust me, he's hard to please when it comes to food. I think you must be on the right track Georgie."

Georges suspicion evaporated and he smiled to himself proudly. Derek rolled his eyes as his father looked around the table at the rest of them, as though gloating in the glory of being complimented. Edwin too, rolled his eyes but the three sisters remained still, not wanting to be rude and copy this gesture. Casey was poking at her food, shooting contemplative glances at her mother every five seconds. Derek knew what was on her mind of course. Ever since dinner had started, Casey had barely touched anything on her plate, she had only spoken when she was spoken to, and she had been glancing from her mother, to Derek, and back to her plate over and over again. Derek knew that she was worried about her mother being suspicious of them, but he himself wasn't worried. Their parents were as blind as they came; they'd never actually guess what was really going on.

"So Nora tells me that the two of you got detention this afternoon." George suddenly spoke up, glancing at his oldest stepdaughter, who looked up at him in surprise. "I thought we told you two to keep the fighting outside the home to a minimum. Amusing as it may be to watch sometimes, you've got to understand that it can get annoying to other people."

"You're absolutely right Dad." Derek said, nodding his head. "So how about Casey moves out? I can't fight with her nearly as much if she isn't here to fight with!"

"Or how about we send Derek to a good military school?" Casey snapped across the table at Derek, who had to admit that her acting skills had certainly improved; she really did appear to be mad.

"No ones moving out, and nobody is going to military school." Nora said, rubbing her forehead with her hand, clearly frustrated. "Although; with this constant fighting, the idea is warming up to me."

Casey relaxed a bit, noticing that her mothers suspicions were slowly ebbing away. Sighing, her mother looked around the table at the five kids.

"What is everyones plans for tonight?" she asked, as she usually did every Friday night, when nearly all of them would need a ride somewhere. And; as usual, there was an outbreak of replies all at once.

"I'm going skating with Charlotte-"

"It's Kelseys birthday tonight! We're going swimming-"

"I'm going over to Jasons to watch a movie-"

"I'll be on Ralphs street. We're playing street hockey."

"I'm going to the library with Em. We're finishing off our history assignment."

Nora looked taken aback by the abundance of responses she had just recieved, and took a moment to think them all over and figure out which kid had said what. Her face scrunched up in confusion, she began to speak, still looking a bit lost.

"Alright so how is this?" she said slowly. "I'll take Marti, Edwin and Lizzie first, because the skating rink is right by the swimming pool, meaning I can drop off Lizzie and Marti at the same time. Jasons house is on the way back so I'll drop Edwin off and then I can come back and drop Casey and Emily off at the library, and Derek off at Ralphs street."

Casey froze, unsure of what to say. She wasn't really going to the library with Emily; so what was she supposed to do? Tell her mother that she was making Emily walk to the library? Besides, if she got dropped off at the library and Derek at Ralphs, it would take them almost an hour to meet up again. It was a long distance between the library and Ralphs street. She was saved from having to answer when Derek cut her off.

"Uh actually, Ralph offered to pick the three of us up." Derek lied, causing Nora to shoot Derek a surprised look. "He's Emilys bio partner and he still has her book that he borrowed this morning. He has to give it back to her anyway so he said he'd drop the girls off at the library when he picks me up."

Nora paused for a moment, looking back and forth between Derek and Casey. Both teens were frozen to their seats nervously, waiting for a response. They both hated when they had to wait to find out if their lies had worked. Finally, she shrugged and nodded her head, and the two eldest children gave silent sighs of relief.

"Whatever works for you." she dismissed, turning back to her supper. "That's just less driving for me to do."

"Well I'd better go get ready." Derek said, pushing his chair back. "Excuse me."

"Yeah I'm going to go get ready as well." Casey said, forcing a smile and darting up the stairs after Derek. She had just reached the top step and was about to turn to go to her room when she felt Derek reach out and grab her hand, pulling her over into the nearest corner. He backed her into it and smirked down at her. Not giving her a chance to speak, he placed a hand behind her head and pulled her forwards, his lips crashing against hers passionately. She considered for a moment pushing him off so she could go get ready, but when she felt one of his hands slide underneath her shirt and grip her waist, all logical thought evaporated into thin air, and she grabbed onto the collar of his shirt, pulling him impossibly closer. She just couldn't turn Derek down when he was like this. She could feel his smirk grow wider as she let out a little sigh.

Just as she was about to start leading him towards his bedroom, she heard footsteps at the bottom of the stairs. She quickly let go of his collar and pressed her hands against his chest firmly, pushing him up off of her. He clearly hadn't heard the footsteps because his expression instantly changed to confusion.

"Go!" she hissed, motioning towards his bedroom door. He took a step backwards, apparantly realizing why she had pushed him away.

"I'll meet you downstairs in half an hour." he whispered, before darting into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

_'Idiot' _Casey thought to herself as Nora looked from the door that had just slammed, to Casey. She raised her eyebrows at her daughter, who gave a sheepish smile and shrugged her shoulders, trying to indicate that she didn't have a clue what had just happened.

Nora just shook her head and wandered off into Lizzies room, laundry basket in hand.

- - - - - - - - -

"You know we're getting pretty good at this lying thing." Casey said, leaning her head against Dereks shoulder as they sat down on a bench on the side of the path. Derek laughed, the vibration of it tickling her head.

"Yeah, I guess we are." he said, glancing around at their surroundings. They were at the park once again; the same one where Casey had made both wishes, and where her and Derek had started going out. They had just seen a movie, after sneaking away from the house without suspicion. It was only nine o'clock, but it was already dark out. The air was cold, but they both had on jackets to keep them warm. There were still many people out and about; taking a walk around the park, paying no attention to the two teenagers who were sitting on the bench.

"Do you have an excuse for tomorrow?" she asked him, as she looked up at the stars above them. "For when we go to the mall I mean."

"The mall?" Derek repeated, sounding confused as hell. Casey looked up at him pointedly, and something like realization dawned across his features. He shut his eyes in a pained expression and tilted his head back against the back of the bench.

"Right, the mall." he said, snapping his fingers. "I completely forgot that we were going to the mall tomorrow."

"You told me you'd go tomorrow because you had to cancel last week for hockey practice, remember?" Casey reminded him, referring to a discussion that the two of them had had a couple of days before. Derek nodded, looking guilty.

"Right, I remember that _now_ but I uh .. I sort of made other plans." he informed her, looking down at her and waiting for the anger to come out. She paused for a moment, biting her lip.

"Well what do you have to do?" she asked, deciding to get the facts straight before she got mad at him. "Is it really important?"

"It's not really important." he shrugged, staring straight ahead now. "I just promised a couple of my friends I'd catch a movie with them tomorrow. But I can tell them I'll hang out with them another time, if you want."

"No it's fine." Casey said, trying not to sound bitter, but she knew that she did anyway. She sat up straight, trying to rid herself of any bitterness. "If you want to go hang out with the guys, go on. You may be my boyfriend, but you need guy time too. Go on, it's fine."

"Are you sure?" Derek asked her, studying her carefully. She forced a smile and nodded.

"Yeah I'm positive Derek." she assured him, slipping her hand into his. "It's fine. Maybe we can hang out on Sunday. I'll just hang out with Emily tomorrow. She asked me to do something anyway. I'll just tell her I can now."

Derek grinned down at her, holding so much affection in his eyes that Casey felt her heart melt for him.

"Thanks baby, you're the best." he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. He made to move away, but Casey placed a hand behind his head and crashed her lips onto his in a more passionate kiss. He was smirking against her lips as he dropped her hand and let it slide up her bare skin right underneath her shirt. Casey giggled and pulled back, slapping his hand away.

"Derek we're in public." she reminded him, gesturing to the other people around them. "You can't be doing that sort of thing here."

"Well then let's go home." Derek said, slipping his fingers through hers and kissing the back of her hand gently. "Then I can make out with you properly without you harassing me about respect for other people."

"But if we go home we have to hide everything again." Casey reminded him, frowning slightly as he rubbed his thumb across her wrist gently. "At least when we're out we can hold hands and be together without anyone seeing us-"

"We can do that at home too." he argued, shrugging. "Just come up to my room and tell Dad and Nora that you're helping me with my math homework or something. It will work. They know you're in my math class and they know I have trouble with math. They're always asking you to help me out so we'll just say you are. Besides, theres not much to do outside. What do you say?"

Casey sighed and nodded, allowing him to pull her to her feet. As they began to walk, she couldn't help but realize that this wasn't the first date night that had been ruined because Derek had gotten bored. She remembered her dates with Derek in her wish. He had taken her out to dinner, or to the beach. They had found plenty to do without having to go home. And they still did those things in this world. Derek was a romantic, really he was, but he didn't always show it. It was as if he could act completely uncaring for the longest while, and then make up for it by doing something completely romantic and sweet. That was what made it so hard for Casey to stay mad at him.

* * *

**I was actually contemplating rewriting this chapter and the next few because I personally wanted to change a lot about it but I decided to post it like this. I got hit with writers block for this chapter- more precisely these next few chapters - I ended up going crazy and writing some of the later chapters lol . This was also originally HUGE but I divided it into two chapters (: Anyway I hope you liked it, so please review and more will follow! Sorry again about the delay. **


	5. Bus Rides and Dousing Suspicion

**Haha this was originally attached to chapter four but it was massively huge so I chopped it in half (: Haha. As usual, read and review :) Hope you enjoy the chapter. Everyone who commented on the Harry Potter book, I agree, loved it !! (: Anyways, on with the chapter!! **

**Disclaimer: I still haven't managed to solve world hunger, prevent global warming, defy gravity, or secure the rights to Life With Derek. Darn! I didn't know this would be so hard! **

**Chapter Five: Bus Rides and Dousing Suspicion**

They had decided to take the bus home, seeing as it was a bit cold out and they were pretty far from home. They had taken the bus to the park in the first place. As they waited at the bus stop, Casey looked around at the other people waiting for the bus. There was an older woman carrying a bag of groceries, who looked like she would bite the head off the next person who looked at her the wrong way. There was a man and a woman who were each holding the hand of a little girl, who looked to be no more than five years old. The only other person at the bus stop was a girl who looked to be around nineteen, dressed in all black. Casey shivered a bit in the cold, and Derek looked down at her; concerned.

"Are you cold?" he asked her quietly, so everyone else wouldn't feel the need to listen in on their conversation. Casey shrugged one shoulder.

"A bit." she admitted, and Derek wrapped his arms around her, holding her against his chest and rubbing her back. She relaxed in his hold, feeling secure and safe. She couldn't help but think to herself that no other guy had ever given her the same feeling of security and protection as Derek did. When he held her, it was like he was telling everyone else that she was his, and that if anyone tried to take her from him, they'd pay. And Casey liked that. She let herself stay in his arms as he continued to rub her back and hug her. Finally, after a minute or two, he held her at an arms length so that he could look into her eyes.

"Is that any better?" he asked her. He smiled then; actually smiled. Not one of his smirks, but the real smile that he always stored just for Casey. The one that expressed how he really felt about her. God how she loved that smile. She smiled in return and nodded her head.

"Yeah it is." she said, holding his gaze. ''Thanks Derek."

Derek was silent for a moment as he looked down into her eyes. He seemed to be thinking hard, but Casey couldn't imagine what he would be thinking about. He had a half smile on his face, different from the one he had been wearing a moment before, but with the same amount of affection held in it.

"What is it?" she asked him quietly, laughing slightly. "You look so .. thoughtful. And when _you're _thinking, it must be big."

He didn't reply at first. He leaned down a bit and kissed her softly on the lips. Nothing rushed; just a sweet little kiss. Her eyes remained closed for a moment after he had pulled back, but when she opened them, he was looking down at her with that same look again.

"It's nothing." he shrugged, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards a bit, shadowing that of a smile. He seemed to rethink what he had said, before continuing. "It's just. .. you know how much you mean to me, don't you?"

Casey smiled at him and felt her heart give a leap. His words warmed her entire body, despite the fact that she was still out in the middle of a Canadian winter. This was what made her love Derek so much; the moments that he slipped in the cutest things. They made up for the times that he was being an idiot; well , most of the time anyway. Still smiling, Casey nodded.

"Of course I know that Derek." she assured him, not breaking eye contact. "Why do you ask that?"

"I was just making sure you knew." he said with a shrug as she laid her head back down against his chest again. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and let his gaze wander down the street. "It doesn't hurt to remind you every now and then."

Before she could reply, the blue and white bus pulled up at the bus stop, and Derek took Caseys hand, leading her onto the bus. He felt around his pockets for some change to pay the bus fare. When he found enough change, he dropped it into the machine and led Casey to the back of the bus, taking a seat in one of the free rows. He let her set by the window because he knew how much she liked to watch what was going on outside. They didn't speak much for the rest of the ride home, but Casey leaned against Dereks chest the whole way, her gaze fixed out the window, Dereks gaze fixed on her. On the one occasion that Casey looked up at him, he almost looked like he wanted to say something to her, but when she had opened her mouth to question it, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and quickly looked away. She shrugged it off as nothing; and continued to look out the window.

Casey and Derek made sure to get off at the bus stop before the one closest to their house. They always did this. It gave them a few more minutes to be together before they had to go inside, plus they didn't want their parents to see them get off the bus together as it would indicate that they had been coming from the same place.

This time when they got inside, they told their parents that Ralph had offered to drop by the library and pick up Emily and Casey again, seeing as it was cold out. Their parents seemed to buy this excuse, seeing as Ralph did own a car and did offer to drive people home a fair bit.

"Casey didn't you work on a project at the library?" her mother suddenly asked, eyeing her daughter suspiciously. "Where are all of your books?"

"Uhh- I gave the project to Emily to take home." Casey lied easily, making a mental note to herself that this was the third time she had lied to her mother today. "We're going over to her house tomorrow to finish it anyway so .. it only made sense."

"Alright then." George said, before Nora could speak. She looked like she was going to argue with Casey, but George continued. "Are you two up for a game of Monopoly? Martis been begging to play all night."

Casey shot a look at Derek, who gave a very faint shake of the head, unnoticeable to their parents. She turned back to her mother and George, shaking her head and putting on her best fake smile.

"Uh sorry George, but I promised Derek I'd help him get ready for the math test thats coming up next week." Casey said. "Tell Marti I might have a game with her tomorrow before I go to Emilys."

George, as clueless as they came, accepted this answer immediately but; as Casey suspected, her mother did not. She studied Derek with extreme curiousity and placed her book down on the couch next to her, folding her arms across her chest.

"Derek wants to study on a Friday night?" Nora challenged, raising an eyebrow. "What's wrong with this picture?"

"If you didn't want to play Monopoly you could have just said so." George shrugged, not catching onto the same hints that his wife was. Nora looked at George incredulously, as if unable to believe that he could be so dense. Shaking her head, she turned back to Derek, who shrugged.

"Casey wouldn't stop bugging me about it." he said simply, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Besides, that lecture Dad gave me on keeping my marks up if I wanted to stay on the team really got to me."

Nora, surprisingly, accepted this answer. She studied Derek for a moment and then blushed, looking as though she couldn't believe she had thought something more of what was going on. She waved a hand at the two eldest kids dismissively and picked her book back up.

"Well I'm glad to see you are showing some initiative in any case." she said, turning back to her book. "Good luck with that. And keep the arguing to a minimum. I'm trying to read down here."

Nodding, Casey hung up her jacket on the coatrack next to Dereks and started up the stairs, Derek closely behind her. They had barely stepped into his room when he turned around and kissed her, walking her up against the door, causing it to close behind them. Keeping his lips locked with Caseys, he reached behind her and locked the door, to prevent any unncessary distractions. Dereks hands tangled through her hair, and hers tugged at the hem of his shirt impatiently. When Derek pulled back for a bit of air, Casey remembered what she had wanted to say before he had kissed her.

"I think my mom is getting suspicious Derek." she told him, still trying to catch her breath. "We're going to have to be more careful around her. Around the both of them really. Your Dad doesn't seem clever enough to pick up on anything on his own but if my mom tells him to watch out for anything weird .. he might tell her and she can put two and two together, trust me."

"So how do you propose we throw her off our trail?" Derek asked her, looking interested. "I mean, there isn't much more we can do."

Casey thought for a moment, trying to think of some things that would throw her mother off course. Biting her lip, she looked back at Derek.

"For starters, when we are coming back from our dates, we stop coming into the house at the same time." she started. "One of us will come in, and the other one can wait down the road, and come home about ten or fifteen minutes later. That way it will look like we got home at different times anyway. Secondly, we should start getting into a few more fights around the house, even when my mom isn't in sight. We'll make them loud enough for her to hear, so that she thinks we aren't just acting when we're around her."

"Alright, sounds good." Derek said, nodding. "So we don't come home at the same time, we fight a bit more around the house.. anything else?"

Casey was reluctant to say what was on her mind next. She had no clue if he'd agree to it or not, but she knew it was worth a shot. It would throw her mother off course almost completely if they went through with it.

"Well there is one thing." she said slowly, her hand reaching up and tangling his hair around her fingers. She looked thoughtful, and Derek tilted his head at her, waiting for her to continue with an explanation. "I don't know if you'd agree to it or not but .. it would definitly be the most effective decoy."

"What is it?" Derek asked her, his hand cupping one side of her face gently. "I'm up for almost anything at this point-"

''We could date other people." she blurted out, not giving him a chance to finish. She watched as his face froze, his mouth hanging open in mid-sentence.

"-except that." he finished, tone set in determination. Hurt flashed across his face as he struggled for the right words to say. "You want to date other people?"

She sighed and broke apart from him, walking slowly towards his window. It was fogged up for some reason, but she used her sleeve to clear away a patch of window that she looked out of; her elbows propped up against the windowsills. She could tell that he was still frozen to his spot across the room.

"I didn't mean actually date other people Derek." she clarified, watching as an elderly couple walked down the street with a small dog. "I meant _pretend _that we're dating other people; just to make my mom think that we don't have anything going on."

''I don't know about this Casey." Derek said slowly, wandering across the room and wrapping his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. She didn't tear her gaze away from the window at all. She didn't want to look at him right now. She couldn't imagine him being with some other girl. Apparantly, Derek was having the same thoughts.

''I really don't want to have to share you with anyone else." Derek admitted quietly, holding her closer protectively. She had to admit that it felt good to hear that he too was jealous over any competition that may come into the picture.

"Well I don't exactly want to watch you with anyone else either Derek so that's why I say we pick people who will do this for us without question, who will act as a distraction to our parents, at least for a little while."

"And who the hell is going to want to be used like that Casey?" Derek asked. He rolled his eyes but she was back on and missed this. "Seriously, nobody wants to be played like that. I can't think of anyone. Emily and Sam maybe but .."

"Not Emily." Casey said quietly, sounding lost in thought. "Our parents know that she's with Sheldon and besides; they already know how long she has had a crush on you for. If you never acted on that before, they'd find it pretty out of the blue that you would suddenly want her to be your girlfriend. No Emily won't do. Sam could work, do you think he'd do it?"

Derek shrugged, not wanting to offer up his best friend and Caseys ex-boyfriend as a potential fake boyfriend. When Casey remained silent, he sighed .

"Yeah I'm sure he'd cover for us." Derek said quietly, his jaw set tightly. "But what about me?"

"I'm thinking." Casey said, breaking free from Dereks hold. She started pacing the room, her finger tapping against her chin repetitively. God where was a good friend like Terra when you needed her? She seriously missed that girl sometimes. She knew that this shouldn't be hard; ninety percent of the girls at their school already had, or would be willing to pose as Derek Venturis girlfriend. But then again, that was the problem. She needed someone she could trust; someone who wouldn't take advantage of the situation. And that was when it came to her.

"Kendra." she said, whipping around to face Derek.

"_Kendra_?" Derek repeated, his jaw dropping. "Kendra as in my ex-girlfriend Kendra? As in .. Max's current girlfriend?"

"They're still our friends Derek." she reminded him, coming to a stop in front of him and folding her arms across her chest. "Look, if we want this to work we've got to make some sacrifices. And this would be one of those sacrifices. Kendra would do it, I know she would. And our parents don't realize that Kendra is dating Max. It's only for a little while Derek. Come on."

Derek stood there and stared at her for another minute or so. He looked as though he desperately wanted another solution to come from out of nowhere and present itself but of course, no such miracle occured. He bit his lip and looked away for a moment.

"One question." he said, studying his carpet as though it were the most interesting thing in the world. "These .. fake dates. We won't have to kiss them will we? I mean, you wouldn't kiss Sam would you? And I won't have to kiss Kendra?"

He had added in the comment about him and Kendra purposely to make it seem like he was just figuring out the guidelines and Casey knew it. She could tell by the insecurity in his voice that he was more worried about her and Sam. Deciding to put his mind at ease, she shook her head.

"As long as our parents are buying it, I don't see why we'd have to go that far." Casey said, shrugging. "So will you do it?"

Derek took a deep breath before rolling his eyes and nodding.

"Yeah, I'll do it." he said, his voice laced with reluctance and bitterness. "But only for a little while alright?"

"Deal." she said, and extended her hand. She grinned at him. "Want to shake on it?"

Derek looked from her hand to her smirk, before falling backwards onto his bed, making sure to grab her hand and haul her on top of him as he fell. She laughed as she landed on top of him and looked down into his eyes. He leaned up until his lips were almost touching hers. Their noses were touching, and she could see herself reflected in his brown eyes.

''So you're not going to do anything like this with Sam, right?" Derek asked; half joking, half serious. She rolled her eyes and placed her hand behind his head, her fingers threading through his hair loosely.

"Shut up and kiss me already Venturi." she growled playfully, before taking him and flipping him so that he was sitting above her.

Needless to say, it didn't take much persuasion for him to oblige to her request.

* * *

**And on that note, let us proceed to the review button (: By the way, check out my new one-shot titled To Love Somebody. Review my friends, and more will follow!! **


	6. Heart to Hearts and Lying Boyfriends

**This chapter is purposely short, because it was originally VERY long, so I had to do what I did with chapters 4 and 5. I split it. But on the plus side if I get enough reviews I might just post chapter seven tonight when I get home! So be sure to review! Anyway, here is the chapter, enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I should just face that I may never own anything :( I don't own Ben Affleck either!**

**Chapter Six: Heart to Hearts and Lying Boyfriends**

By the next afternoon, their plan was settled. Derek had called Sam and asked him about posing as Caseys boyfriend for a little while. Sam had been surprised, but had agreed to do it, telling Derek that he'd be glad to help. Derek had tried not to act worried when he told Casey the good news, but he was; sort of. He trusted Casey and he trusted Sam but he also knew that he had a tendency of being a jackass in their relationship sometimes. What if being around Sam made Casey see that? And besides, hadn't Casey fallen for Sam before? What if this fake date thing just rekindled the flame that had long ago burnt out?

Casey wasn't having nearly as many worriesome thoughts as Derek. She had called Kendra right after Derek got off the phone with Sam and explained the situation to her. Kendra had quickly briefed Max ( who had been there at the time ) on the situation, making sure that he would be okay with it. Max had said that he didn't really have a problem with it, and Kendra had agreed.

So by the time that Derek was gone to the movies with his friends, Casey was in an overly good mood. Pretty soon they wouldn't have to worry about her mother being suspicious of them. She hummed to herself as she grabbed her coat off the coat hook, getting ready to go over to Emilys for the afternoon. Just as she was about to leave, her mother called out to her from the kitchen table, asking where she was going. Taking a step back towards the dining room, she smiled.

"I'm just going over to Emilys for a while." she informed her mother, happy that she could tell the truth this time. "I'll be back for supper."

"Bring Marti along with you when you're coming." Nora said, returning to her paper work . "She's playing with Emilys little brother this afternoon, and I'd say she'll still be there by the time you leave."

"Sure thing Mom." Casey said, placing her hand on the doorknob to leave, until a thought occured to her. She turned around again. "Actually Mom, could I talk to you for a second?"

Nora looked up at her daughter, surprised. Nonetheless, she placed her pencil down on the table and motioned for Casey to sit down. Laying her jacket on the back of Dereks usual armchair, she sighed and sat down across the table from her mother. She didn't know what had caused her to want to discuss this with her mother, but she suddenly felt the need to say it to somebody. Taking a deep breath, she racked her brain for the best way to explain this.

"Alright Mom, suppose you have this .. uh .. _friend_." Casey started, biting her lip and staring at the table, trying to think of how to word this. "Well more than a friend really-"

"Like a boyfriend?" Nora suggested, though her smile suggested she already knew the answer to her own question. Knowing it was best not to lie, Casey nodded.

''Right, like a boyfriend." she said, shrugging. "And let's just say that you always thought being with him was going to be great but once you get him it's like you can't stop comparing him to .. someone else."

Nora raised an eyebrow, clearly wondering who Casey was talking about. Deciding to cover her tracks, Casey cleared her throat and added;

"It's just .. my friends been asking me for advice on this guy lately and I'm really stumped on what to tell her." she lied. "I don't want to tell her the wrong thing. So what would you do in a situation like that?"

"Well it depends on the situation really." Nora told her daughter, leaning back in her chair casually. "I mean, is this new guy .. is he a bad person in comparison to the first one?"

"No not at all." Casey assured her, shaking her head. "He's not _bad_. He's a great guy, really he is. He can be sweet and charming and romantic but then he can turn into a complete jerk. He's just .. different than what she expected. It wasn't what she was used to really. She thought he was different. And although he's still a great guy .. he's not as good as he was bef- I mean .. as the first guy."

"Nobody deserves to be compared to someone else Casey." Nora reminded her daughter with a stern look. "Everyone is their own person. This young man probably can't change who he is- and he shouldn't have to. Nobody should have to change to meet someone elses standards."

Casey was personally insulted. It was almost like her mother was insinuating that she ( well of course to her mother, it was her friend ) was a bad person for comparing the old Derek to the new Derek. And she wasn't .. was she?

_'No.' _she assured herself as confidently as she possibly could. _' I am __**not **__the bad guy here.'_

It wasn't her fault that Derek had changed. She hadn't done anything to change him. It was just something that had happened. She sighed. What did she want her relationship with Derek to be like? If she could model it the exact way she wanted it to be, what would they be like together? She knew it would be different; that was for sure. Derek wouldn't always be forgetting about their plans for starters. The old Derek had never forgotten about one of their dates. He had always been there on time, ready to go. And when they were out, he never once complained about being bored; he had always just enjoyed the time they had together.

Of course the current Derek could still be like that a lot of the time. She wouldn't deny that. Everyday he managed to do something that would completely remind her why she was so in love with him. But the problem was that he was his usual self way too often. And his usual self was the side that forgot plans, allowed other girls to flirt with him, got bored on their dates and ignored her whenever his friends were around. She considered the possiblity of telling Derek what was going on in her mind. Maybe if he knew what was bothering her, he'd know how to change it. But she knew that telling Derek that he had changed would mean she would have to tell him about her experience a few months before. And she just couldn't do that .. could she? What would he think of her if she went to him and told him all of that? She had a feeling it would end in him telling their parents to send her off to a mental hospital. She couldn't tell him. So then how was she supposed to tell Derek how she was feeling? Because she knew one way or another, it had to be done, and preferably before another fight broke out between the two of them. The only problem was ; how was she going to do it?

Sighing, she stood up, pushing her chair in.

"Thanks Mom." she said quietly, turning to walk back towards the door. "You've given me a lot to think about."

Indeed she had. All throughout the movie that her and Emily were watching that afternoon, her mind was focused on different ways of telling Derek what was on her mind but none of them seemed passable. Finally, Emily seemed to notice and flicked the TV off, seeing as the credits were rolling across the screen anyways. She sat up cross legged and turned to Casey, a knowing look on her face.

"Alright, what is it?" she asked, brushing potato chip crumbs off of her shirt. "When you don't gush over Ben Affleck, theres something up. So go on, you might as well tell me. You know I'm going to find out anyway."

Casey remained silent, not quite willing to discuss the matter with anyone just yet. She expected Emily to try and guess what was going on. But what she didn't expect was the first guess that came out of Emilys mouth.

"Is this about that new girl Meghan going to the movies with Dereks group today?" she asked, frowning slightly. "Because if it is Case, I so wouldn't worry about her. Dereks crazy about you, he'd never-"

"Wait a second, _what_?" Casey cried, suddenly paying absolute attention to her friend. Her eyes went wide as she waited for Emily to respond.

"You didn't know?" Emily asked, sounding guilty. "Woops. Well it's too late for that now."

"Derek didn't tell me that cancelling plans with me meant he could go hang out with _her_." Casey snapped bitterly, still in disbelief.

"Casey he wasn't really hanging out with her specifically." Emily tried to assure her. "She was just invited to go along with their group."

"Yeah but Derek gave me the impression that it was a guy thing." she said angrily. "I even told him he deserved some guy time, and he agreed with me. If Meghan can go, why can't he ask his girlfriend to go along with him?"

Emily was silent for a moment, chewing on her lower lip as though it would help the answer become clear. Finally, she shrugged.

"Alright you've got me there." she admitted, frowning. "Look, I've got an idea, how about we head down to the mall for a bit. Their movie is probably just getting out now, and you know them, they always hang around at the mall afterwards. We'll just go down and if they see us, we'll act like it's a complete accident that we bumped into them, alright?"

Casey hopped up immediately, eager to go. She grabbed her jacket off of Emilys bed and shrugged into it, already halfway to the door. She looked back to see Emily standing up rather slowly.

"Come _on !" _Casey urged her, rushing over and leading Emily by the elbow. "God you're way too slow. Hurry _up_!"

When she found that boy, she was _so_ going to kill him.

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**Alright as I said, this was originally longer, but I cut it into two chapters. So review and I might post chapter seven tonight, it's finished. (: **


	7. The Promise of Trouble

**As promised, here is chapter seven. Yes, Derek and Casey are having a very rough time staying on track, but a bunch of little fights are usually what lead up to a big problem :) I noticed a few of you mentioned missing Terra. I actually miss writing her, she was a fun character to write lol. Anyways read and review!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

**Chapter Seven: The Promise Of Trouble**

Within fifteen minutes, they had reached the mall, and were hanging around the food court at one of the tables. They had bought milkshakes so that they didn't look like complete losers just sitting there. They watched as steady streams of people trickled out of the theatre and into the mall. Casey kept a sharp eye out for Derek.

"Do you see him yet?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the crowds but nudging Emily, who shook her head. "How about now?"

"No Casey."

There was silence for a moment.

"Do you see him now?"

"Casey, if I see him before you do I'll tell you, got it?" Emily clarified, clearly impatient with her friend. She returned her gaze to the theatre only to see Derek coming out with his friends. She clutched Caseys wrist to get her attention.

''Alright now I see him." Emily said, and pointed towards Derek. Caseys eyes scanned the group quickly. Sam and Ralph were there, of course. She wasn't surprised to see that Max and Kendra had tagged along with them, and were trailing a bit behind. Casey spotted Derek walking somewhere between where Max and Kendra were, but right behind Sam and Ralph. She also wasn't surprised to see that Meghan was purposely walking as close as possible to Derek, who was talking to a guy on his right who Casey couldn't quite remember the name of. Her insides fumed with jealousy as Meghan laughed at something that Derek had said and she placed a hand on Dereks upper arm, keeping it there for a second.

"Do you _see _the way she's all over him?" Casey asked staring at the girl with disbelief. "Look at her. If she could walk any closer to him she'd have him tipped right over."

That's when Derek saw Casey. She quickly turned her gaze to look at Emily, pretending as though she hadn't seen Derek there at all. She wondered if he would have the decency to come over and talk to her. He had seen her ; that much she knew. Emily must have caught on because she too tore her gaze away from the group and focused on Casey. They pretended to be talking about something else and a moment later, Derek appeared at Caseys side.

"Hey Case. Hey Emily." he said, as the rest of his friends came to a stop behind him. "What are you girls doing here?"

Casey didn't answer him. Sensing that Casey was a bit bitter towards him, Emily put on her best smile and answered for the both of them.

"There was nothing else to do so we dropped by the mall." Emily said, lying with ease. "We got sick of watching movies back at home."

'That's cool." Derek said, his gaze fixed solely upon Casey, who was staring straight ahead at the wall on the opposite side of the food court. "Uh .. hey Casey."

"Hi." she said simply, taking another sip of her chocolate milk shake. Looking up, she saw that Derek was watching her carefully, sensing that she was mad at him. He had just opened his mouth to say something else when Meghan linked her arm through his, grinning. It took all of Caseys willpower not to get up and slap Meghan for even _touching _Derek. Didn't she know that he was very much taken? Casey tried to remind herself that Meghan probably didn't know that, but then again it was natural to feel protective over your boyfriend when some other girl was all over him.

"Derek! Ralph just said there's a new joke shop on the other side of the mall." she cried, excited. "Come on, let's go!"

Knowing what was best for his safety, Derek pulled his arm away from Meghans and stuck his hands in his pockets. He ran his free hand through his hair before shaking his head to tell her no.

"I'm sort of busy right now." he said truthfully, motioning towards Emily and Casey, neither of which looked very impressed. Meghan finally looked down and noticed that Casey and Emily were there. Upon seeing the two of them, she grinned widely and turned back to Derek.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know you were talking to anyone." she said in an annoyingly high pitched voice . "So tell me Derek, who are your friends?"

"Yeah Derek, who _is _your new friend?" Casey asked, giving him a cold smile as she raised her eyebrows and leaned back in her seat. "Don't be shy, introduce us."

Derek shifted uncomfortably and scratched the base of his neck, clearly embarassed by this whole situation. He coughed akwardly before nodding his head in agreement and looking between where Meghan stood, and where Emily and Casey sat.

"Alright then. You guys, this is Meghan. She's new at our school. And Meghan, that's Emily, my next door neighbour." he said, with a nod of the head towarsd Emily. Meghan shot her a stupid grin, which Emily returned with a fake smile. Derek nodded towards Casey. "And this is Casey, my girlfriend."

Casey was pretty sure that she was the only one who saw the flicker of disappointment and jealousy in Meghans face, as Emily and Dereks expressions remained the exact same. But when Casey looked a second time, Meghan was smiling that stupid smile again, and she looked up at Derek.

"Derek! You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend!" she laughed. Derek shrugged as Meghan turned back to Casey. "You're so lucky to have a guy like Derek."

Derek looked at Casey as though waiting for her to say something, but she remained silent. Casey saw something like worry cross Dereks face for a moment as he looked her straight in the eye. This look was immediately followed by hurt when she didn't answer. Neither of them were willing to look away from the other; it was almost as though they had tuned everybody else out. Casey was pretty sure that Meghan was still talking, but she had no clue what she was saying. If she was talking, Derek cut her off when he suddenly spoke up.

"Can you excuse us for a second?" he said, glancing back and forth between Emily and Casey. "I've got to talk to Casey alone about something."

Emily nodded right away, and Meghan nodded too, but reluctantly. Without waiting for Casey to approve of this, Derek had grabbed her hand and was leading her across the food court. Neither of them spoke until Derek pulled her into a deserted hallway that led to a storage room in the back of the mall. It was quiet, and when Derek spoke, his voice seemed to echo throughout the whole hallway.

"Alright so you're mad at me." he said and; before she could protest, he put a finger to her lips. "Don't say you're not because I know you, and I know when you're pissed off at me. And you are."

"I wasn't going to argue with you about that." she said, slapping his hand away and folding her arms across her chest. She turned her head in the opposite direction, purposely avoiding his gaze. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Come on Casey don't do this again." he said, placing a hand gently on her elbow to keep her attention though she still wouldn't look at him. "I wasn't here _with _her Case I swear. I didn't even know she was coming until I showed up and she was there."

"A likely story." she grumbled and out of the corner of her eye, she saw him tense up. She looked back at him. "Don't tell me you don't _enjoy _her flirting with you. You're Derek Venturi, that's who you are. You're the guy that lets every single girl throw herself at him without even thinking about the consequences."

"I've changed." he said quietly, and there was something in his tone that Casey couldn't quite pinpoint. "I don't see how you haven't noticed that Casey. That's who I was before. But I'm not like that anymore. I'm with _you, _and only you. And that's the way it's going to stay. I changed for _you._ I thought you had at least noticed that I've-" he trailed off. "Never mind. Just don't be mad at me."

"I thought you were just going out with the guys?" Casey said, raising her eyebrows. "What happened to that?"

"For starters, I never once said that." Derek said. When she opened her mouth to protest, he rushed on. "You assumed it Casey."

"And you agreed."

"True." he said, biting his lip and looking lost for a moment. "But at the time I really did think it was just the guys going so .. there wasn't much I could do about it. And I would have asked you once I found out it wasn't going to be just us but-"

He stopped, clearly having thought he had said too much. Casey unfolded her arms and narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"But what Derek?" she asked, raising a suggestive eyebrow. "Go on, tell me. You started a sentence so finish it."

"I don't want to tell you." he said, covering his face with one hand. Her jaw tightened immediately and he sighed, waving a hand dismissively. "Fine Casey. I'll tell you. Or.. show you."

''Show me?" Casey began to ask, but her voice trailed off as Derek reached into his pocket with one hand and withdrew a small package, wrapped in silver wrapping paper. She took it, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"What's this?" she asked him curiously, playing with the ribbon on the box. He shrugged his shoulders and stuck his hands in his pockets again.

"Open it and see." he suggested, looking nervous.

Her eyes darting repetitively up to meet Dereks, she began to unwrap the silver paper. Placing it on the top of a gumball machine next to her, she looked down at a black rectangular box. He bit his lip and motioned for her to open it up. Not having a clue what was going on, she took the lid off of the box to reveal the most breathtaking necklace she had ever seen. It was on a silver chain that held a heart shaped locket. The front of the locket was engraved with a diamond-like stone. She looked up at Derek, who was now refusing to meet her gaze, before opening up the locket. The left half read 'DV' and the right half read 'CM'. Casey closed her hand over the locket and tilted her head at Derek, confused.

"Derek why did you-"

"It's your birthday on Monday." he shrugged, looking embarassed. "I thought I'd get you something nice or whatever; being your boyfriend and all."

Casey managed to smile a little bit. She was still sort of angry with Derek for hanging around with Meghan all afternoon, so she tried not to show too much emotion. But she had to admit, this was the sweetest gift anybody had ever gotten for her. He'd even had the locket personalized with their initials. And he _did _look awful cute as he stood there with his hands in his pockets and his eyes wandering nervously as he tried to explain himself to her.

"-and then I saw this and I thought you'd really like it so I had it engraved and .. it wasn't a big deal really I just..oh god Casey, you aren't going to cry are you?"

"They're happy tears you idiot." she said, smacking him lightly on the shoulder. She brushed away the one tear that had fallen. "What do you expect when someone gives me like .. the sweetest gift ever?"

She smiled softly at him.

"Thank you Derek."

"It's no big deal." he said, shrugging and looking away. "You're my girlfriend and .. you deserve something nice. Happy early birthday. You just had to ruin it by acting like a lunatic didn't you? You couldn't let me do things the easy way just once. God you're so difficult."

She laughed and leaned forward, placing a soft kiss against his lips. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. She tried to deepen the kiss but when she did, he pulled back, not looking her straight in the eye. She kept a hold on the collar of his shirt with one hand, her face still close to his. He turned his head away from her.

"We should get back." he said, his voice sounding somewhat distant. "Emily is probably wondering where you are and my friends won't wait forever either."

Without even waiting for her to agree, he took her hand and started walking back in the direction they had come from. Casey was confused. He still didn't seem totally relaxed with her, but she couldn't imagine why. Sure he was joking around with her like usual, but there was something strained in his voice, almost as though he was slightly bitter towards her. And why had he turned away from her kiss? Derek was never one to turn away from one of her kisses. She sighed. Even when he was being sweet, he could pass off as a jerk in the end. She decided to brush it off this time. He had just been trying to do something nice after all. Maybe he was just in a bad mood Why, she couldn't imagine, but she had to admit that she was getting sick of his newly developed attitude. And as Casey looked over her shoulder five minutes later as she left the mall with Emily and saw Meghan pressing her hand against Dereks chest and laughing, she couldn't help but think that she hadn't seen the last of Meghan yet either. In fact, she was pretty sure the trouble was just beginning.

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**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. The more reviews I get, the quicker I update, so get typing (: **


	8. Fake Dates and Snooping

**This chapter is currently the longest one, but the next one is finished and that's even longer lol. (: Anyways, thank you to everybody who is reviewing this story. Keep it up, it means a lot !! **

**Disclaimer: It's not fair. All the other kids have rights to TV shows. Why can't I? -pouts- Alright I'm over it .**

**Chapter Eight: Fake Dates and Snooping**

The tension in the living room of the MacDonald-Venturi household was unbearable. It was like a disaster waiting to happen. Sam was sitting on the couch with his arm around Casey, and Kendra was leaning against Derek on the other end. Casey and Derek had tried hard to avoid looking at each other too much; because they didn't really like watching each other with other people, but they both knew that it was all one hundred percent staged. They had to act like real couples if their parents were going to buy it. And with George and Nora darting absent mindedly around the house all day, it was becoming apparant that they would have to keep up the act even when no one was in the room. It was impossible to tell when one of their parents would rush on past again.

It seemed to be working. Everytime Casey saw her mother pass by, she noticed that she would lag behind for a second, observing the activities of the teenagers that were seated across the couch, watching a movie together. Casey offered her mother a small smile as she saw her dart upstairs with a pile of clean laundry, but she knew she'd be back in a moment.

"Ugh it is so hard to lie to my mother." she whispered, leaning back and pressing her hands against her forehead. Truth was, none of them were really interested in the movie. They had all seen it the month before at Emilys house. They just needed to be seen together around the house so that her mother would have visible proof of their relationships.

"It's worth it." Derek reminded her, leaning forward and offering her a small, comforting smile. He was no longer holding his stupid little grudge over the incident at the mall the day before. He had been acting distant from her for most of Saturday, but he had woken her up on Sunday morning with a kiss. She could only assume that he was back to his normal self. She hated that he seemed to think he had control over when they could be arguing and when they could be fine again, but she pushed it aside nonetheless. She found herself taking advantage of the times that their relationship was on solid ground.

"I know it's worth it but you know me, I'm not exactly the best liar." she reminded him, giving a sad smile. "It's just not something I like doing you know? It's stressing me out."

"Casey just learn to relax." Derek said, trying to keep his voice down. "It's not like-"

Derek glanced over his shoulder to see Nora coming back down the stairs with a basket of dirty laundry tucked under her arm.

"-not like a klutz like you could ever relax. You've got to be as alert as possible, to keep from causing more life threatening incidents for those around you."

"Shut up Derek." she snapped at him, giving him the best glare she could. "Nobody asked your opinion."

"Casey just relax and watch the movie." Sam told her, fully aware that Nora was right behind them. "You don't need to fight with Derek. Let's just have one peaceful afternoon."

"Peaceful usually isn't a word associated with Spacey here." Derek said with a grin. "Now psychotic, mental, annoying-"

"That's enough Derek." Nora said from her spot at the table, where she was folding laundry. "You two have company. What did we say about keeping the fighting to a minimum around other people? Watch your movie."

Derek glanced at Casey out of the corner of his eye and grinned at her, knowing that their distraction was working. Nora seemed less and less convinced that Derek and Casey were hiding something. And that was all that mattered. They returned to watching the movie, trying to ignore the whispered conversation between their parents behind them. Casey had been tuning them out until she realized that maybe they were saying something about them, and tuned right back into what they were saying. Casey rolled her eyes at them. She didn't know how they thought nobody could hear them. They weren't exactly being quiet.

"-told you there's nothing weird going on Nora." George was saying. "You were just overreacting."

"Maybe you're right." Nora admitted. "It just seemed like they were getting along rather well and spending a lot more time together."

"They've matured." George suggested, sounding like he didn't completely believe his own words. "Well you know Casey; she's already mature but maybe Derek is starting to show some maturity as well. But they're still their old selves. I could hear them fighting from the basement this morning. Trust me, nothing is going on. And they both seem to be dating again."

Casey could tell that her mother was taking this oppurtunity to observe the teenagers, as there was a sudden silence. She waited nervously, wondering what her mothers honest opinion was on the two of them dating. Did she buy it? A moment later, Nora spoke up again.

"That may be true, but does something seem off with them?" she asked her husband in a hushed tone. Casey tensed up immediately, and perhaps Sam noticed, because he suddenly seemed to tune into the conversation as well. "Think of all the times we came home to have to find Casey and Sam making out on the couch. I understand Derek. He hates public displays of affection or whatever he called it but he usually sneaks in a couple of kisses with his dates. I haven't seen anything like that happen once. Don't you find that a bit odd?"

Caseys stomach dropped and she glanced at Derek, worry clear on her face. She could tell that he had just heard the same thing she had. He looked as though he was thinking hard. She watched him, wondering what was going through his head, when he nodded at her. She didn't quite understand what this was supposed to mean, and she tilted her head at him questioningly. He motioned towards Sam, then nodded at her again. Putting two and two together, she shook her head. She wasn't going to make Derek sit there and watch her kiss Sam. She didn't _want _to kiss Sam. But then she heard Georges response.

"Actually, that is a bit weird." he agreed. "I mean Casey can be fairly conservative sometimes but I would at least expect Derek to do something. It's strange for both of them to be showing absolutely no affection towards their dates."

Casey looked back at Derek again, and he bit his lip, nodding again. Closing her eyes, she leaned up so that her lips were almost touching Sams ear.

"Kiss me." she whispered, trying to make sure her parents wouldn't hear her. Sams eyes widened and he looked down at her with shock .

"_What?_" he hissed, looking at her as though she'd gone mad. "Are you out of your-"

"Just do it." she whispered. She caught sight of Nora looking towards the four teenagers. She gave a quick nod and; without further argument, Sam leaned down and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pushed her back against the arm of the couch a bit. As Sam kissed her, Casey was reminded of just how perfect her and Derek were for each other. It wasn't that he was a bad kisser, it was just that she felt nothing special. She couldn't see how she hadn't noticed that before. She felt a sharp pang of pity for Derek who; of course, had to sit there through all of this. An impatient cough from behind them was what broke them apart, and Casey looked up to see her mother standing over her, her eyebrows raised suggestively.

"Sorry." she said, grinning sheepishly, before turning back to the movie. When she knew her mother was out of view, she glanced over at Derek again, but he wasn't looking at her. He was pretending to be interested in the movie. She rolled her eyes. If he got girly about this, she'd hit him. He was the one who had suggested it after all.

- - - - - -

"So why exactly did it have to be you kissing Sam again?" Derek asked Casey as he lay flat on his back on the bed. "I mean I know it was my suggestion but it occured to me after that it's probably _me _they expect to be doing things like that with girls."

"Kendras got a real boyfriend Derek, in case you forgot." she reminded him. "She's doing more than enough by pretending to be your girlfriend. We can't ask her to cheat on Max. I think both her and Max are being extremely tolerant already. Besides, it was a one time thing Derek. I don't think we'll have to do it again."

"You're right." Derek sighed, lacing his fingers through hers as he stared up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry. I'm just being overprotective. I may have told you to kiss him but .. it was hard to watch. I hope you know that."

"Yeah I know that." she assured him, rolling onto one side and propping her head up on her elbow. She looked down at him. "But I've got to admit, this jealousy thing .. it's sort of cute."

"Sort of?" Derek pouted, looking disappointed. "You know you find me way more than 'sort of' cute Case."

"Maybe." she admitted, laughing. "But on the plus side I think we're starting to throw my Mom off of our trail. Did you _see _the look on her face when she broke me and Sam apart?"

Dereks face instantly darkened and he stiffened up, looking abruptly bitter.

"Stop talking about that already." he snapped, but softened when he saw the look on her face. "Please." he added gently, relaxing again.

Casey rolled her eyes at him, but shut up about it nonetheless. His jealousy may be cute sometimes, but it could be a major annoyance at times too. He was worse than a girl with his mood swings. She decided to just let him win this one and completely dropped the topic. She ran her hand down through his hair and covered his lips gently with her own. He kissed her back, placing a hand behind her head and pulling her down as close as possible. She shifted so that she was lying on top of him, and his arms instinctively wrapped around her waist to draw her closer. Derek had just started pushing her tank top up her stomach a little bit when his cellphone rang from the other side of the room. He groaned and broke away from her kiss, his grip on her waist loosening. Casey didn't recognize the ringer, so she had no clue who was calling him, but right now she didn't care.

"I've got to go answer that." he said. He attempted to get up but Casey grabbed a hold of the collar of his shirt and pulled him back towards her. She grinned and moved her lips right next to his ear, her warm breath causing goosebumps to spread over his skin instantly.

"Leave it." she instructed him, tugging on his hair lightly. "They'll call back."

"Casey I really should-" Derek started, but suddenly cut himself off with silence. She felt him relax underneath her and after a moment, he had shifted so that he could look into her eyes. "You know what? You're right. They'll call back if it's that important. Now .. where were we?"

"Mmm right about here." Casey said, before smirking down at him and closing the distance between them with another kiss.

- - - - - -

Casey stirred as she began to wake up a little. She felt so warm and secure. She didn't remember her bed ever being this warm before. But as she began to wake up a bit more, a couple of things started registering in her mind. Her pillow felt softer somehow, and she was almost certain that she was lying against something. And there was a smell .. almost the same smell as Dereks cologne.

She opened up her eyes slowly and glanced up. She squinted in the darkness and saw that Derek was sleeping right next to her. She must have fallen asleep earlier. She hadn't meant to. The last thing she could remember was just lying there with Derek and talking. Her first instinct was to get up and rush into her own room. She usually didn't spend the night in his room, and she had no clue what time it was after all, meaning someone could walk in on them at any given second. As she thought this, she let her eyes wander over to where Dereks alarm clock sat, and registered that it was 3:06 AM. She relaxed again, laying her head against the pillow. As she lay there with Dereks arms wrapped around her, she was almost reminded of the night that he had spent at her old house when she had been living in her wish. It had been so much easier then. At least if someone had caught them back then , it wouldn't have been as big of a deal as it was now.

She smiled as she remembered the few good things about her temporary life a couple of months before. Her and Derek had been absolutely amazing together back then. And they still were, but it was just so different. She thought back to the other Derek, and remembered how protective he had been over her when Shane had come into the picture. She vaguely wondered if Shane had turned out the same way as he had turned out in the other world. Was he still an abusive, controlling jerk? Did someone else take all of his abuse now instead of her? She didn't know, but she hoped not. She didn't think anyone should have to face that sort of thing.

And Terra. What had become of Terra? Was she still the same whacky, sarcastic and encouraging girl as she had always been? Casey had to admit that she seriously missed that girl. There were days when she wanted to pick up the phone and call her but; of course that was foolish. Terra wouldn't have a clue who she was, and would wonder how some random stranger had gotten a hold of her phone number. But Terra had been a huge help when it came to Derek problems back then. Emily was helpful, but Casey missed Terras humorous way of giving out advice on what to do about Derek and his stupid mood swings.

Casey suddenly felt a small pang of guilt. She really had to stop thinking of Derek so negatively. He was her boyfriend, and she loved him. She had to try and get over all of the problems that they had been going through and just accept that Derek could be an asshole sometimes. But she felt like she shouldn't have to accept that. He hadn't been that way before, why did he have to be like it now?

And then she remembered sitting on that windowsill in the hospital room, and watching the doctor look up at George with utmost regret and remorse.

_'He's gone.'_

The words echoed through her head painfully and she winced. She knew that she should just be grateful that she'd gotten him back in the end. How many people could say that the person that they loved had been snatched away from them only to be redeeemed from death when it seemed impossible. She was pretty sure she was among the very few who could say something like that.

She looked up at Derek and traced her finger softly along his jawline, smiling as he continued to sleep. She'd gotten him back. She'd gotten what she wanted. So why was she always so unhappy with him? Why did she always feel like he was hurting her? Was she just overreacting? She sighed and stared up at the ceiling.

She moved her hand from his bare chest to the sheets beneath them when her hand brushed against something hard. She closed her hand firmly around it and held it close to see what it was. Studying it for a minute by the pale ray of light that had been cast across the room by the streetlight outside, she recognized the object as Dereks cellphone. It had been on his desk earlier. She could only guess that he had retrieved the phone off of the desk at some point after she had fallen asleep. That had been hours ago; after all. She glanced at Derek to make sure that he really was asleep; before flipping open the cellphone and holding it underneath the blankets to shield the light from Dereks face. She pressed a couple of buttons until she landed in missed calls. She glanced up at the top of the list to see who it had been that had called Derek earlier that night. As her eyes focused on the name of the person that had called, her jaw stiffened and she glared at the screen.

'10:56 PM

Meghan'

Trying not to jump to conclusions, she took a deep breath and pressed a few more buttons to go into his call history. Flipping down through his incoming calls, she felt her stomach dropping. It was a long list Meghans name, occasionally interrupted by 'Dad' or 'Sam'. Switching into his outgoing calls, she saw that this list was almost identical to the last. She flipped his phone shut and flicked it to the foot of the bed aggressively. She glared up at Derek, who was still asleep, and struggled out of his hold, trying not to wake him. She'd face the questions if he were to awake, and she wasn't in the mood for that. Grabbing her sweater off of the floor, she crept across his room quietly and out of the door, closing it behind her gently.

Five minutes later, lying in her own bed, she let a single tear roll down her cheek. She wasn't one to cry easily over a boy. She was emotional; true; but she usually managed to stay stronger than this. But thoughts of Derek leaving her for Meghan were floating through her mind, and that hurt. She just had to wonder how long it would be before those thoughts became reality.


	9. Birthdays and Snowdays

**Thanks to everyone reviewing, keep doing so please!! (: A few of you have been asking about whether or not the phone calls to Meghan will be explained. Yes, they will. Just be patient and try to pick up on hints that will be coming up. Keep your mind open !! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything!**

**Chapter Nine: Birthdays and Snowdays **

A million and one thoughts were racing through Caseys mind, flashing through like lightning, each one more painful than the last. She could see Dereks face smiling over at her; hear Shanes voice yelling at her over the phone. The memories were coming back strongly in no chronological order, yet they seemed to piece together to make her situation more and more terrifying. Images of Shanes angry face kept floating through her mind, immediately replaced by the four white walls of that stupid waiting room in the hospital . And then; running. To nowhere in particular. To Derek. To somewhere where everything made sense.

"Casey!"

She ignored the voice that was calling out to her. She couldn't stop running. She had to keep going. She had left all of the pain and misery behind her, and stopping would only mean having to face it some more .

"Casey!"

She recognized the voice as Dereks and; just as she turned to see if it was him, she woke up, sweating and shaking; to see Derek sitting above her, concern and worry etched into his features prominently. He seemed to relax a bit when he saw that she was awake, and he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his eyes locked with hers.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, his voice laced with concern. "It took me forever to wake you up. You were shaking and moving around and muttering things in your sleep. You had me scared Casey; you wouldn't wake up."

Casey sat up slowly, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin on top of her knee. She took a couple of deep breaths. She hated when she had nightmares about what had happened to Derek. They happened more than she was willing to admit, and they always had the same effect on her. She'd always be overly jumpy and paranoid for the rest of the day, keeping a watchful eye on whatever Derek was doing, almost as though she needed reassurance that he was really there. The nightmares usually occured when she let her thoughts wander to the wish before she went to sleep. And she had been thinking about her wish for a good twenty minutes the night before. She made a mental note to avoid doing that again. Slowly, she nodded, her body still shaking.

"Yeah I'm alright Derek." she said, noticing that he didn't appear to be convinced. "Really, I'm fine. It was j-just a.. a bad dream."

"Care to talk about it?" he asked, reaching onto her endtable and handing her a cold cloth. She pressed it against her forehead for a moment as he waited for her to respond. Finally, she shook her head.

"It's okay." she said, shrugging. "It's not a big deal. It was just a little n-nightmare."

"Yeah you get those a lot don't you?" he asked quietly, his eyes darting up to meet hers again. She tensed and studied him curiously.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, wondering how on earth he could know that the nightmare she had just experienced was not new to her; not at all. He gave her a sad look, one that almost seemed like the nightmare had been tougher on him than it had been on her.

"This isn't the first time I've heard you having these nightmares Case." he admitted softly, turning over her hand and slipping his fingers through hers. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and she felt some of the fear subside under his touch. "You've done this before. Usually it doesn't last too long so I don't worry about it but this time .. you really had me worried. Are you sure everything is okay?"

"Yeah Derek, everything is just fine." she lied. Smiling sadly at her, he leaned over and wrapped her in a hug, allowing one of his hands to rub her back gently.

"You're alright Casey." he whispered gently into her ear, perhaps knowing that she was lying when she said everything was fine. She felt herself relax as she recognized that he was fine, it had just been a dream. He grinned at her as he pulled back.

"On a much happier note, I think you and I both know that today is a very special day." he said, raising his eyebrows at her. She gave him a confused look and he rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you've forgotten about it already Casey. I know you can be pretty clueless sometimes but I thought even you could remember something like your own birthday."

Casey gasped and smacked herself in the forehead, mentally punishing herself for her stupidity. How the hell could she forget about her own birthday? Derek gave a light chuckle and kissed her temple softly.

"Happy Birthday baby." he said lovingly, placing a soft kiss on her lips. She wanted to keep kissing him, but he laughed and pulled back, leaving her confused.

"I never thought I'd say this, but that can just wait a second." he said, and her eyebrows shot up farther than she could ever remember. She leaned forward and placed her hand against his forehead, fake worry plastered across her face.

"You don't _feel _like you've got a fever." she said, tapping her finger against her chin thoughtfully. "But I could be wrong; I'm not a doctor. Quick baby, go get me the thermometer. I think you're coming down with something."

"Oh be quiet." Derek said, rolling his eyes playfully and swatting her hand away from his forehead as she reached over again. "Do you want your present or not?"

"Present?" Casey asked, sitting back against her headboard again, her face scrunched up with confusion. "Derek you already gave me my present remember?" she asked, gripping the locket between her thumb and her index finger gently and holding it out to show him.

"_Remember_?" she repeated. He was grinning mischeviously at her and her smile fell when she realized what this meant. "Derek you didn't get me something else did you?"

She was half hoping that he'd shake his head, but his smirk just grew wider, and she groaned.

"What's _wrong _with you?" she asked, smacking his shoulder lightly. "This locket must have cost you a fortune as it is, I don't need you going out and spending all of your money on me. I'm not worth that much."

"I'll spend however much money on my girlfriend as I want to." Derek said with determination in his voice. "It didn't cost me _too _much babe, don't worry about it. You really are the most stubborn person in the world though, you know that right? What kind of girl would complain about her boyfriend getting her another birthday present?"

"Uh, the kind of girl who thinks her boyfriend has spent enough money on her birthday already?" Casey suggested, rolling her eyes. "Fine. What did you get me?"

Derek reached behind him on the bed, his eyes still locked with hers. When his hand appeared again, it was holding a plain white envelope with absolutely nothing written on it. She raised her eyebrows at him as he held out the envelope to her, still smiling. She took it from him, tearing along the top of the seal of it. She tipped the envelope upside down and two colored pieces of paper fell onto her lap. She looked up at Derek curiously, and he motioned for her to read what was on them. As she picked up the fallen items and read through what was written on them, she gasped. Derek had surprised her with tickets to a musical that was playing in downtown Toronto the upcoming weekend. She squealed and leaned forward, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Derek you are absolutely _amazing_!" she said, pressing about five kisses to his lips quickly before hugging him again. "Thank you so much! I wanted to get tickets to this but I didn't think I'd have enough!"

"Yeah well I figured you and Emily could always use something to do on the weekend." he shrugged as she leaned back against her headboard again. He ran a hand through his hair casually. Casey hit his knee lightly.

"Don't be stupid." she said to him, still grinning. "I want to take you with me. Don't say you don't like musicals, because I don't care. I want you to come."

"Caseyyy," Derek whined, tilting his head back and closing his eyes in frustration. He opened them again to see her giving him her best puppy dog face. He shook his head. "Oh don't do this to me. That's not fair. You know I can't turn you away when you use the puppy dog face."

"I know; that's why I'm doing it."

Derek watched her for another quick moment, before sighing heavily and rubbing his forehead. He gave her a defeated look and nodded.

"Fine, you win." he grumbled, and she let out an excited squeal, kissing him on the cheek and jumping up to place her tickets on top of her dresser for safekeeping. Derek was watching as she stowed them safely underneath one of her novels next to her alarm clock when she let out a gasp and turned around to face him. She ran a worried hand up through her hair and started rushing around frantically.

"School!" she cried, hauling a white and pink tank top off of its hanger and throwing it to her bed. Derek ducked to avoid being hit with it and watched as she started tearing through her drawers looking for her jeans. "I completely forgot it was Monday! How could I forget that we had school? It's ten o'clock Derek! Go get ready! We're already an hour late."

"Casey relax." Derek said, lying back on her bed with his hands behind his head. He watched her with an amused smile on his face.

"Relax?" she cried. "_Relax?_ We're late Derek! I'm never late! Mom and George are already gone and they probably took both of the cars which means we have to walk in the-"

"Snow." Derek finished for her, laughing. "Look out the window Casey. There's a huge blizzard out there. They announced at seven that the schools were being shut down for the day. Mom and George had already gone to work and now they're stuck there until the storm clears off tonight which means we're basically stuck wtih the kids all day."

Casey instantly relaxed and flopped down onto the bed next to Derek, pouting. She hit his shoulder lightly.

"Well you could have _told _me that before I went rushing around like a maniac trying to get ready." she told him. "Or was it just _too_ amusing to watch me rushing around my bedroom like an idiot trying to get ready?"

"Yeah pretty much." he agreed with a shrug, earning himself another blow to the shoulder. This time he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him, wrapping one arm around her waist and staring up at her ceiling.

"What are the kids doing?" Casey asked, for once completely relaxed while they were under their own roof. She was so used to having to be on constant watch for one of their parents, but now they were in a house of people who already knew that they were together. It was comforting to be able to do this. Derek sighed, looking thoughtful for a moment.

"Well Marti is downstairs attempting to build a pillow fort in the living room in case the snow caves the house in." Derek said seriously, rubbing his hand up and down her back in a soothing manner.

"You're cleaning that up later." she put in, but he went on as though he hadn't heard her. She had a feeling she'd end up cleaning up Martis mess.

"As for Lizzie and Edwin, they were in Edwins room playing Monopoly the last time I checked." Derek said. "Marti will probably end up joining them at some point. She's been on everyones back all week trying to get someone to play with her. My Dad called an hour ago and said that he's pretty much snowed in and that he was talking to your Mom, and she is too. Besides that, the roads are too bad to get home in. So basically they'll be stuck there until the roads get ploughed and the storm calms down a bit. Their works were shut down too; at the same time as the schools were but they were already there so they've just got to wait it out."

At the mention of phone calls, Casey remembered going through Dereks call history the night before and seeing Meghans name plastered over every second space. She suddenly felt rather bitter towards Derek, but she knew that she couldn't admit to seeing his call history. She didn't want him to know she'd been snooping through his cellphone to see who he'd been calling and who had been calling him. She didn't want to come off as a nosy girlfriend who didn't trust her boyfriend. But not being able to show it didn't stop her from being angry about it. She shifted out of Dereks hold and stood up, straightening herself up a bit.

"I'm going to get something to eat." she said, just looking for an excuse to get away from him. She turned to leave, and rolled her eyes as she heard him get up off of the bed and follow closely behind her. She sighed and realized that she was going to have to suck it up for today and push away her anger. She was; after all, going to be stuck in a house with Derek for the whole day. She didn't want to spend it being bitter and resentful. Besides, Meghan and Derek talking on the phone didn't mean a whole lot, did it? They could just be friends. She was friends with Sam. Of course Sam didn't flirt with her endlessly like Meghan did with Derek, but Derek had said it himself. He was completely committed to her. He'd said that to her face. She had to believe that he meant it.

Derek helped her cook up some breakfast for themselves and for their siblings. Casey was leaning against the counter, her elbows propped up against it to keep her upright as she waited for the scrambled eggs that she was making to cook properly. She yawned and turned her attention to Derek, who was busy cutting up Martis grilled cheese sandwich into little squares, the way she liked it. Perhaps it was the glare of the knife that caught her attention. Images that she had imagined a million times since Sam had told her what had happened to Derek came flashing into her mind. Images of Derek being knifed by Shane. It was these little coincidental things that always set her off. She panicked and darted forward, snatching the knife from Derek as quickly as she could. He paused with his hand still in mid-air and raised his eyebrows at her.

"I was using that." he told her, holding his hand out for the knife again. She reached behind her and grabbed the spatula, placing it in Dereks hand.

"You watch the eggs, I'll cut up Martis sandwich." she said, her eyes locked with his. She was relieved when he gave her a strange look and moved over to the stove, grumbling about how weird girls could be. She let out a deep breath and finished what Derek had started. She hated how the littlest reminders of what had happened could sometimes freak her out completely. Suddenly she heard something crash to the floor behind her.

"Shit!" she heard Derek cry, and she whipped around immediately to see what had happened. She saw that he was holding onto his left hand tightly in his right, a pained expression on his face. The metal spatula was resting on the floor next to a shattered plate. There was shards of the broken dish scattered across the counter as well. Casey was relaxed for a second, realizing that it had just been a broken plate, until Derek took his right hand away from his left to reveal a gash on the palm of his left hand. There was blood all over his hand, and the skin around it was blood red. She felt her heart hammering madly in her chest. She was so overreactive to every little thing that was happening today. The nightmares always had this effect on her, and she hated it. Casey rushed over to him immediately, taking his wrist gently in her hand to examine the cut.

"What happened Derek?" she asked, her heart still pounding with fear. "Are you okay?''

"I burned my hand on the frying pan and then dropped the plate." Derek explained, as Casey led him over to sit on one of the stools. She returned to the stove and shut it off, being careful not to step on any of the glass, before retrieving the first aid kit from its cupboard. When she returned to Derek, the bleeding on his hand had gotten a bit worse, and she winced.

''There doesn't look like there is anything stuck in there." Casey said, examining the cut, and taking a cold cloth, pressing it against his palm to wipe off most of the blood. "You're not a wimp when it comes to using peroxide are you?" she asked him, praying that she wouldn't have to go through twenty minutes of complaining about how much peroxide could hurt. Derek shook his head.

"I'm a man Case." he reminded her proudly. "Us men are too strong to let something like a bit of _peroxide _get us all worked up."

Casey rolled his eyes, but dabbed some peroxide onto a cotton swab and pressed it against the cut anyways. She could have sworn that he jumped a little, but she decided not to mention it. She looked down at him to see his eyes closed rather tightly, his face screwed up a bit as though in pain.

"You men are too strong to let a bit of peroxide get to you, are you?" Casey mocked as she tossed the swab into the garbage and placed a bandage across the cut and burn carefully. She grinned down at him. He chose to ignore this comment.

"You know you'd make a pretty good nurse." Derek said, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. He was still sitting, so he was looking up at her. His voice dropped to a whisper and he smirked as he stood up and moved his face closer to hers. "A pretty hot one too."

"Is that so?" she asked, pretending to look uninterested in his proximity to her. She giggled as he pressed featherlight kisses across her neck and collarbone.

"Derek." she said, trying to get him to focus on cleaning up their mess instead of on kissing her, but he _was _a guy after all. And a typical teenage boy would almost always choose making out with their girlfriend over doing chores any day. She felt him smirk a little against her skin as he moved his face back up to align with hers. She was about to say something when he leaned in and covered her lips with his. And really, who was she to argue with him when he was doing this? She was only human after all.

* * *

**Anyway there's chapter nine. The more reviews I get , the quicker I'll post chapter ten! It's almost done :) **


	10. Forts and Reassurance

**I was going to put off posting this chapter because chapter eleven was posing problems; aka writers block, but that seems to be slowly fading, lol. Anyways, on with the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: In regards to this story, I own absolutely nothing, except the plot. **

**Chapter Ten: Forts and Reassurance**

The rest of their day off ran so smoothly that Casey completely forgot about what a jerk Derek had been being lately. He was absolutely amazing to her for the rest of the morning and he carried this attitude into the afternoon. After they had their breakfast, they joined Marti in the living room. Casey was; at first, reluctant to join in when Derek had grabbed a pile of blankets and pillows from upstairs and began to help Marti build a tent. But by three o'clock that afternoon, she found herself underneath the comfort of their homemade tent, laughing along with Marti, Derek, Lizzie and Edwin. They had the Monopoly board set up, but they had stopped playing long ago; when Derek had been caught trying to sneak away one of Caseys hundreds for the sixth time.

Marti claimed that she was going to go have a tea party with Daphne, and had crawled out underneath the flap. Lizzie and Edwin had followed closely after her, telling their older siblings that they were going to go and finish up their science project that was due at the end of the week. Derek grinned and laid back against the bottom of the couch, pulling Casey over next to him and wrapping an arm around her waist.

"I build one hell of a fort, don't I MacDonald?" he smirked, looking around them at all of the blankets that were draped a few feet above their heads. Casey laughed.

"Yeah, when you have the help of a seven year old, two thirteen year olds, and your girlfriend." Casey reminded him. "You just love to take all of the credit though, don't you?"

Derek shrugged, trying to act nonchalant about the whole situation. She laughed and pressed a hand against his chest, her head resting lightly on his shoulder. She felt him press a light kiss to her forehead before resting his chin on the top of her head and closing his eyes.

"I feel like I'm five again." Casey laughed, studying their surroundings with a sparkle in her eyes. "My Dad always used to build tents with me and Lizzie when we were little kids." she continued, smiling at the memory. "I sort of miss being a kid sometimes, don't you?"

Derek opened up his eyes but remained silent for a moment, as though he didn't really want to answer. She could have sworn that she felt his body stiffen against hers for a moment, but she couldn't be sure. A moment later, he got out a quick reply.

"Sometimes." he admitted, his tone rather uncertain. "Most of the time I'm just happy with where I am now."

"Is this about your mother?" Casey asked. Since they had started going out, Derek had opened up to her a few times, explaining about his distant relationship with his mother. Casey; of course, had already known most of this story from her talks with Derek during her visit to the alternate universe. But it was reassuring to know that Derek trusted her enough to talk to her about the situation in this world too. He rarely spoke of it but when he did, she could tell it still really bothered him that his mother thought so little of him.

"Derek?" she said, as he had chose not to answer her. "Is this about your mother?"

"Sort of." he admitted, shrugging. "I just like being where I am right now you know? I get along with my Dad better than I did a few years ago, and your Moms usually there to talk to if I need a second opinion. Ever since my Mom left it's been like I've gotten along better with Edwin and Marti, since I don't have to spend all of my time trying to impress her anymore. Lizzies a great kid too and more importantly, I've got you. And I may not tell you this enough but you mean the world to me Casey. I'm just comfortable with who I am right now."

Casey looked up at Derek and reached her hand up, wrapping a strand of his hair around her finger gently.

"Me too." she whispered, pulling him down into a kiss. The kiss wasn't rushed or urgent, it was slow and passionate. It was times like this; when he was so gentle with her; that she allowed herself to completely forget about all of the bad things he had been doing lately. When the kiss broke apart, he kept his face within an inch of hers and gave her one more kiss on the lips. He smiled at her.

"You're beautiful." he said all of a sudden, and she rolled her eyes, blushing.

"Derek-"

"It's true." he said, raking his fingers down through her hair. "I mean it. I've got best looking girl in all of Canada."

"Flattery will get you everywhere in life." Casey said. "It seems you've mastered that. Smooth Venturi, real smooth."

He just smirked and looked away. Lying there with him, she felt so relaxed and she couldn't help but think that being here with him felt so natural. She loved the way she fit against him, and the way he always held her. This was why she put up with all of his annoying habits; for moments like these. She yawned and laid her head back against Dereks shoulder again, closing her eyes.

"Casey?'' Derek said after about five minutes. When he didn't get an answer from her, he tried again. "Casey?"

But she had dropped off to sleep. He sighed and pressed the side of his mouth to her forehead in a lazy kiss, before wrapping both of his arms around her waist, his hands joining together in front of her stomach. He closed his own eyes and shifted to make himself more comfortable. He had no intentions of falling asleep. He just wanted to rest for a few moments. But of course, it never works out that way.

- - - - - - -

"Think I could get up to Dereks room to use his guitar for a while?" came a voice not too far from Casey. She stirred but didn't open up her eyes. She knew it was Edwin doing the talking.

"Are you mental?" came another one, and Casey recognized the second voice as Lizzies. "Do you remember what happened the last time we got caught using their stuff? They worked us to the bone for a punishment. If you want to go through another night of that, be my guest, but I'm not going near my sisters room."

"And if Edwin even thinks of touching my guitar, he's so dead." Derek suddenly said, sitting up straight. It was apparant that he too had been woken up by their loud talking. Casey opened her eyes enough to see that Edwin and Lizzie had returned to the tent to play a game of cards, and that she was still leaning back against the couch. Dereks arms were no longer around her waist, and she closed her eyes again, not wanting to get up just yet.

"Derek you had a phone call." Edwin said, as he laid down a card on top of the pile. "It was some girl named Meghan."

Caseys eyes opened up at this, and she looked over at Derek, who hadn't noticed that she was awake yet.

"I'll go call her back." Derek said, moving to get up from the tent. Just as he was about to crawl out underneath the flap, he spotted Casey, who was now wide awake. He stopped. "Oh, Case. You're awake." he said, relaxing again and starting to make his way back to her. "I'll just stay here with you then."

"No it's alright." Casey said truthfully. "Go return your phone call. It's okay."

"Are you sure?" Derek asked, raising an eyebrow. She couldn't blame him. There was often a sarcastic edge to her tone when she said something like that but this time, there wasn't. She had decided to temporarily push aside all of her mistrust. Derek had been nothing but loyal to her so far, and she rather felt that he deserved a bit of trust for that. Besides; as her sister had so clearly stated once, guys and girls really could be friends. She talked to Sam on the phone every now and then after all. What was wrong with Derek doing the same sort of thing? She just had to trust that Derek was being truthful when he said that Meghan was just his friend. So she smiled and nodded at him, trying to assure him that it was okay.

"Honestly it's fine Derek." she said, stifling a yawn. "Go make your phone call. I don't mind. I've got to go upstairs soon and tidy up my room a bit anyway."

Derek nodded gave her a quick kiss before disappearing into the living room.

"So who is this Meghan?" Edwin asked once they heard Dereks bedroom door close upstairs, meaning he was out of earshot. "Anyone we should know about?"

"She's just this new girl that Derek has been hanging around with." Casey said, yawning and shifting so that she was sitting cross-legged, facing her younger siblings. Lizzie and Edwin shared a worried look. Casey immediately noticed this and sighed.

"I know what you're thinking and trust me, I had the same thoughts, but I've got to trust him." she said, and she only realized then that she was saying these words to assure not only Lizzie and Edwin, but herself as well. Edwin and Lizzie shrugged and turned back to their game.

Feeling akward just sitting there, Casey sighed and excused herself, leaving the warmth and shelter of the tent behind and crawling back out into the living room, where it was somehow substantially colder . She rubbed her arms to warm them up and headed upstairs towards her bedroom. She paused by Dereks door when she heard him talking on the phone. She didn't want to snoop, but she just couldn't resist. As much as she wanted to trust Derek, there was so many things she had to wonder when it came to his relationship with Meghan. Like just how close they really were, and why they talked so much. She leaned in close to the door, listening to Dereks muffled voice on the other end.

"Look this can't continue." he was saying, sounding stressed. "This is getting ridiculous. Hiding things isn't the answer here Meghan and you know it."

There was silence, meaning that Meghan was obviously talking. Casey strained her hearing to make sure she heard what Derek said next.

"No you're right. I don't know how it feels and I guess I really don't understand but I could try." he was saying. Casey was getting frustrated. What the hell were they talking about? "Alright. I'll talk to you later but .. promise me you'll think about it?"

It was quiet for a moment as she responded to him.

"Alright Meg. Yeah I'll see you in school." he said. "It'll all work out, I know it will."

With that, Derek hung up the phone and Casey took a step back from the door, debating whether or not to go in and talk to him. She had no clue what that conversation had been about but she didnt' like the sounds of it. What did Derek mean when he said it would work out? What did he want to stop? What was Meghan hiding? So many questions were racing through her head, and she didn't have a logical answer to any of them. Only Derek and Meghan knew that. Casey felt herself fume with jealousy at the thought that Meghan and Derek had a secret; one that Derek was keeping even from his girlfriend. She started to walk towards her bedroom when she heard Dereks voice call after her from inside his bedroom.

"Casey?" he called out, clearly having heard her footsteps. "Is that you?"

Sighing, she turned and returned to where she had been standing, opening the door a crack and peering in to see him lying on his bed, the phone on the endtable next to him.

"Hey." she said quietly, offering him a small smile. He patted the bed next to him.

"Come here." he said, returning her smile. Half reluctantly, she crossed the room and sat on the edge of his bed. He gave her a strange look and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her down closer to him. She let herself relax against him and he studied her curiously.

"I'm your boyfriend, theres no need to sit like a mile away from me." he reminded her, raising his eyebrow suggestively. She gave him a half smile, and she saw the happiness suddenly drain from his face. He looked concerned.

"What's wrong Casey?" he asked, rubbing his hand in circles on her back. "Is everything okay? You seem a bit mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you Derek." she assured him, and although he seemed to relax a bit, he still looked worried.

"What is it then?" he asked her, his eyes darting back and forth between both of hers quickly. "I know you well enough to know when somethings wrong and .. there's something on your mind. Come on baby, you can talk to me about anything."

She bit her lip and avoided meeting his gaze. She didn't want to admit to him that she had been snooping through his cellphone and listening in on his conversations. She knew he might get mad, and she didn't want that. She racked her brain for a way to explain how she was feeling without letting him know that she was being so mistrusting.

"It's complicated." she said, looking away quickly. "It would be hard to explain."

Derek gripped her chin softly and tilted it upwards so that she could look at him. He moved his hand to brush her hair off of her face for her.

"Well I'm listening aren't I?" Derek said, and offered her a small, articulate smile. "Come on Casey, I want us to be honest with each other and right now .. I feel like your keeping something from me."

_'I feel that way too.' _she said to herself bitterly, but she couldn't say that out loud.

"I just feel like we've been a bit .. on edge lately." she admitted, deciding that this was the best way to phrase it. "I mean we've been getting into a lot of stupid fights and I hate that."

Derek nodded in agreement and sat up. She followed his actions, and they both sat back against the headboards, Dereks arm around her shoulders.

"I know we have been Case." he said, and her heart dropped with the knowledge that he too; had noticed how unstable they were. "But it's going to be fine, alright? Every couple goes through a few rough patches. We're just having a bit of a hard time right now. But it'll all be fine, I promise you."

Casey was silent. She didn't agree with him. She didn't think that everything would be fine by just leaving it alone. Problems like this didn't just go away. She was still terrified that Derek was going to leave her for Meghan. As much as she'd been trying to push those negative thoughts from her mind the whole day, they were all flooding back to her now, after hearing Dereks phone conversation with Meghan. Perhaps Derek noticed her refusal to agree with him, because when he spoke again, his tone was more determined.

"We're going to be fine Casey." he assured her. "We've both just been a little edgy lately, but it'll pass. Just give it time. I'd never let a few stupid little fights tear us apart. As much as you annoy the hell out of me sometimes, I'd never want to end things. Trust me, alright?"

Casey looked Derek straight in the eye, trying to figure him out. She didn't understand this at all. All of the things that had been happening lately indicated that something could be going on with Meghan, but then he said things like this; and she could tell he really meant them. There was honesty in his voice, and in his eyes, and she had to believe that he meant that. She still had her suspicions about Meghan, but she knew she would have to find out more about what was going on with them before asking Derek about it. Sighing, she nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck , not saying a word. His arms found their way around her waist, and he buried his face into the space between her shoulder and her neck.

"I'm sorry." he whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear. Neither of them broke apart from the embrace. "I don't want you to have to doubt our relationship and I know you have been."

Casey felt her eyes fill with tears, and she shut them tight to prevent any from spilling out. Why did he have this effect on her? How could he make her so confused about the one thing she used to be so sure about? He was sweet and caring right now, sure. But she knew it wouldn't last. She knew that tomorrow he'd probably do something completely insensitive and selfish. And that killed her. She blinked back the tears that had been forming in her eyes and forced a smile as she pulled back a bit, her arms still hanging behind his neck.

"I trust you." she said, her voice shaking. The corners of his mouth turned up into a slight smile, and; pressing his lips to hers, he pushed himself forward, pinning her down onto his bed with his hands resting lightly on her sides. She didn't bother trying to get another word out of him. She didn't think it was worth it. Words led to fights, and she couldn't take anymore of those.

But as she lay there kissing Derek, she honestly had to wonder if the three words that she had just spoken were a mistake. Because maybe, just maybe, trusting Derek was a mistake; when all of the signs told her not to.

* * *

**Alright so Derek was a bit more caring in the past two chapters than he usually is but he needs some cute moments too-aside from his jerkish self most of the other times. Review, and more shall come :):) I noticed, reading the reviews from last chapter that like, everyone wants to kill Meghan ! I probably would too lol! **


	11. Eavesdropping Girlfriends

**I see, by the reviews I am now getting about Meghan; that everyones minds are starting to open to other possibilites :):) Hehe. Read on. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Life With Derek or any associated characters. Pff. Dreams really don't come true after all :( **

**Chapter Eleven: Eavesdropping Girlfriends**

Casey woke up to the sound of something hitting the window, and falling apart. She sat up with a start to see the reminants of a snowball sliding down the window. It was just starting to turn dark out, so she knew that it was around suppertime; meaning that her and Derek would have to get the kids supper soon. She groaned and rolled over to face Derek, who had apparantly been awake the whole time, judging by the fact that he was sitting up with a magazine on his lap.

"You need to get more sleep in the night Casey." Derek commented, grinning. "That's your second catnap today. And in like .. less than an hour. You're worse than my Dad, and that's definitly saying something."

"I didn't sleep well last night." she grumbled, frowning as she remembered the nightmares that had haunted her sleep the night before. "Did you go to sleep at all?"

"No. Unlike you, I try to limit the amount of naps I take in the run of a week. It makes me feel _old_.'' Derek said in a mocking tone as she glared at him. Knowing it was best to change the subject while he still could, he did. "By the way, the kids are out in front having a snowball fight."

"_Really_?" Casey said sarcastically, tilting her head at him and motioning towards the window. "I had no idea."

Derek rolled his eyes and turned his gaze back to his sports magazine, turning the page and focusing on it in an attempt to tune her out. He had no such luck. She wasn't out of questions just yet.

"Any word from our parents?" she asked, hugging her knees tightly to her chest. He nodded, but didn't speak. Casey sighed impatiently, knowing that there was just no doing things the simple way with Derek. "Well what did they say to you?"

"They'll be home around ten thirty." Derek said, turning the page again. "The storm is pretty much over now, but they have to wait for the roads to be cleared, and that's going to take a couple of hours. They're on the other side of town. They're fine. They said to fix supper for the kids and to make sure they do everything they're supposed to do on a school night."

Casey nodded and stood up, straightening herself up. She ran a hand through her slightly messy hair, before grabbing her sweater off the foot of Dereks bed, where she'd thrown it earlier, and slipping into it.

"I'm going downstairs to start some supper for everyone." she said, starting towards the door. She half expected him to follow, but he ignored her. "Derek?"

"Have fun." he said, not bothering to look up from her magazine. She rolled her eyes and headed downstairs by herself to start supper.. Dereks sweet side was starting to wear off already. That hadn't taken very long. But this wasn't him being an asshole, this was something even the Derek in the wish would have done. It didn't matter what world Derek was in, he'd never be real fond of doing chores of any kind; cooking included. She was surprised that she'd been able to get him to help with breakfast and lunch. She sighed. Boys were so damn lazy.

- - - - - - -

By the time Casey woke up for school the next morning, the snow had stopped, and the roads had been cleared. She could hear her mothers voice somewhere downstairs, so she knew that their parents had gotten home at some point the night before. She'd gone to bed with the expectation of school being open again the next morning and of course; she had been right.

By the time lunch rolled around, Casey was actually feeling pretty good. Better than she had been feeling in a long time anyway. Dereks good mood had kept up all morning, she had aced her math test, and a few of her friends had brought her in birthday presents that they would have originally given her the day before. Overall, it was an excellent day. Derek met her at the lunch table a couple of minutes after the bell rang and leaned down, giving her a kiss, this one longer than usual. She had a feeling that he was actually trying harder to improve their relationship since the day before. She wasn't positive, but she was pretty sure that he had known she was crying yesterday. And she had a feeling that that had affected him. She knew that his new attitude might only last for a little while; knowing Derek, but she was thankful for it nonetheless. Derek was definitly acting like a good guy once again; he had his arm wrapped around her waist as they sat there and chatted with their friends; their lunch long gone.

"Where did you and Emily go after you left the mall on Sunday?" Kendra asked Casey, taking a sip of her soda. "Anywhere special?"

"No." Casey said, leaning her head against Dereks shoulder. "We just went back to Emilys and watched TV until suppertime. How about you guys? Did you go anywhere after the mall?"

"Yeah. Meghan left the mall like, ten minutes after you did. We stuck around there for a half an hour and then we went out for some pizza." Kendra said with a shrug. "Well we did. Derek never did show up."

"You didn't?" Casey asked Derek, tilting her head to look at him. "Why not?"

He didn't reply right away. His face was frozen in a look of something that Casey couldn't quite pinpoint; but it was almost embarassment; though he couldn't imagine why.

"I uh-"

"Didn't you go over to Meghans house?" Sam asked his best friend. Casey felt Derek stiffen next to her. She looked up at him with a suspicious look as he bit his lip nervously, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation that they were having. He avoided Caseys gaze.

"Yeah, I had given her my wallet to hold on to, because it kept falling out of my pocket." Derek said, his voice sounding shaky. "I forgot to get it back from her so I had to swing by her house and pick it up. No big deal."

"But you got home three hours after I did Derek." Casey reminded him, her heart racing with fear. "If they all went out for pizza about a half an hour after I left the mall, where were you all that time?"

"I was .. around." he said, shrugging. This was a lie, and everyone at the table knew it. Derek may be a good liar, but under pressure, he was terrible.

_'Stay calm' _Casey instructed herself, trying to breathe. _'Maybe it means nothing. Maybe he wasn't even with Meghan all of that time.' _

But this time, Casey couldn't come up with a logical explanation to redeem Derek. If she had been hanging out with Emily, and all of their other friends had been gone out for pizza together, then where had Derek been all of that time? Had he stayed at Meghans? Had they been hanging out? Her mind was racing with questions, but she didn't want to bring them up at the table in front of all of their friends. Sighing, she shifted out of Dereks hold.

"Derek can I talk to you for a second?" she asked as his eyes darted up to meet hers. She glanced at the table nervously. "I mean, in private?"

"Sure thing." he said, standing up and slinging his bookbag over one shoulder. He didn't bother to take Caseys hand; he knew what this was about, and he knew she wasn't happy with him. They said a quick goodbye to all of their friends and she walked out of the cafeteria, well aware that he was a few feet behind her. She stopped when they came to a deserted classroom. She pushed the door open and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him into the room behind her.

Dropping his arm, she perched herself on the edge of a desk in the front row and folded her arms, watching him expectantly. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared at his sneakers.

"Well?" she finally asked, well aware that he wasn't going to speak of his own free will. He looked up at her, scanning her nervously.

"Well what?"

"Don't 'well what' me Derek, you know exactly what this is about." she snapped bitterly. He remained silent. ''Where were you on Saturday?"

"Is this really necessary?" he asked, a pained expression on his face. "Does it really matter where I was?"

"Yes it matters." she cried, trying to keep herself from just letting loose and hitting him. "It matters to me, so I want you to tell me. Where were you on Saturday after you left the mall?"

Derek shifted uncomfortably, unwilling to answer. She glared at him.

"You know, you not answering me isn't helping." she informed him. "It just makes me think that you're hiding something from me. What was it you said to me yesterday? You want us to always be honest with each other? Well I want that too Derek, but right now it seems like you're keeping something from me."

"Casey I'm not keeping anything bad from you." he tried to tell her. "I went to Meghans to get my wallet, and after I left her house, I went and picked up those tickets I gave you for your birthday."

"Bullshit." Casey said immediately. "If that was true, you would have just came right out and told me that from the beginning. You were uncomfortable with me asking you where you were, and it took you all this time to tell me. If it was something that innocent , you would have had no problem saying it right away. There is something going on with you that you aren't telling me about."

"What exactly do you think is going on here Casey?" Derek asked her, eyeing her curiously. "What is it you think I'm keeping from you?"

"I don't know Derek, why don't you tell me?" she asked bitterly, staring him down with an angry glare. "I wish I had a boyfriend who was-"

She stopped mid sentence, unwilling to say what she had been saying in wish form. She had learned from her mistakes. She cleared her throat and started her sentence over again.

"I just want you to be honest with me." she finished, sighing. "And right now, you aren't telling the truth. I know you Derek; more than anyone else, and this isn't the real you."

"What isn't the real me Casey?" he asked almost bitterly, running a tired hand through his hair and looking stressed out. "What did I do now?"

She rather thought that he was implying something with his last sentence, but she chose to ignore it. Her mind was playing tricks on her. It had just been an innocent question.

"Answer me honestly Derek." she said one more time. "I'll make this right to the point. Did you spend Saturday with Meghan?"

Derek didn't answer her. He bit his lip and looked away. Even though she was pretty sure she knew his answer, she wanted to hear him say it himself.

"Did you?"

"_Yes_, alright?" he got out, sounding as though he had to force the words out of his mouth. Caseys heart dropped. "I did. I went to pick up my wallet and I ended up hanging out with her for a little while."

"So why did you just tell me something completely different?" she asked angrily. "Why are you lying to me Derek?"

"I thought you'd get mad." he shrugged, rubbing his temple with his index finger carefully, as though trying to rid himself of a migraine. "And it wasn't a total lie. I really did go pick up those tickets after I left Meghans house. That was the truth."

"It's technically still lying." she said. "You were just .. dancing around the truth."

"Look Casey, can we please just drop it?" he asked, staring at her desperately. "Meghan is my friend. I'm allowed to have friends. You're friends with Max, Sam and Ralph aren't you? Does that mean that anything is going on between you guys? No. She is my friend. Nothing else."

''I didn't accuse you of cheating." she said quietly, looking away from him. "So then why did you bring it up?"

"You were implying it!" he cried, clearly frustrated. She didn't care. She was frustrated too. "Listen Casey, I wouldn't have to lie if you didn't shoot me down with death glares everytime I mention another girl. I just-"

Derek was cut off when the classroom door opened up again. Both Casey and Derek shifted their gaze to the person standing in the doorway. Casey rolled her eyes. Of course it had to be Meghan. She had a way of ruining everything. Meghan offered the two of them a small smile.

"Sorry am I uh - interrupting?" she asked, giving a sheepish grin. Derek was about to open his mouth to reply when Casey cut him off.

"No, you weren't interrupting at all." she said quite calmly, standing up and shrugging her bag over her shoulder. She straightened herself up and offered Meghan a forced smile. "See you later."

Casey shot Derek one last glare and headed towards the door. She heard him start to come after her.

"Casey wait!" he called out, but she ignored him. She kept right on going. She stormed out of the classroom and turned to go down the hallway, not even looking back. She knew Derek had stopped in the doorway of the classroom, because the sound of footsteps could no longer be heard, but she didn't care. Let him hang around with his precious Meghan. What did she care? He was lying to her; that much she knew for sure now. Every single sign that she had gotten over the past few days indicated that he was cheating on her; yet he denied it. That was what got her so angry. She knew the only way to get him to confess would be to actually catch him cheating on her.

Thinking for a moment, she turned around and glanced down the hallway, noticing that Meghan and Derek were no longer standing in the doorway. They were nowhere to be seen. Meaning one thing. They had gone back into the classroom. She looked at the closed door and made her way back towards it, half fearful. She paused right outside the door, glad that the hallway wasn't too crowded. She could hear what Derek was saying on the other side of the door.

"Yes there is something wrong, thank you for noticing." he was saying, sounding a bit angry. "My girlfriends pissed off at me _again_, if you didn't pick up on that when she stormed out of here. This is getting too complicated. I don't know how much longer I can hide things from her."

"Look Derek, it was your choice to get involved in this in the first place." she answered, not sounding at all like her flirty self. She almost sounded defensive and offended. "I tried to tell you to back off, it wouldn't help anything, but you didn't listen to me. Back out at any time, I won't hold it against you. You can't be doing this to your girlfriend."

Derek was silent for a moment, and Casey felt fear pulse through her. She hated silence. Anything could be happening when there was silence and she couldn't see what it was. She was relieved when she heard Dereks voice speak up again.

"I'm not backing out of anything." he finally said, the anger fading from his voice. "I'm sorry alright? I just overreacted. I'm not leaving you - you need me."

"You give yourself too much credit." Meghan giggled, and Casey felt herself grow angrier by the second. She hated that stupid giggle. "But you are sort of right."

"Yeah." Derek said softly. He paused, apparantly thinking for a moment. "You know what? I think that maybe I need you too. I mean Casey .. she's great .. but I feel like this is something I don't have with her."

Casey closed her eyes, giving a pained expression. She wasn't enough for Derek. She just knew it.

"I still think coming clean is the best way to go about this." he continued, and Casey could tell he was giving one of his nonchalant shrugs right about now.

Before Meghan could reply, the bell rang, and Casey instantly wrenched herself away from the doorway, darting down the hall to get away from that doorway as fast as possible. The last thing she needed was Derek seeing her eavesdropping.

Instead of going to class, she headed straight for her locker. She knew Derek would probably try to make a last ditch attempt to come and talk to her before class, so she dumped her books carelessly into her locker and grabbed her jacket off of its hook, shrugging into it as quickly as she could. She swung her bookbag over her shoulder as she clicked the lock into place again.

She never did go to last period. She had skipped off. Derek was in her last class with her, and she didn't want to face him right now. Their fight was still etched very vividly into her mind, and his words to Meghan were now ringing through her ears. What the hell had they been talking about? Derek said he wasn't cheating on her, but every single word the two of them spoke to each other indicated otherwise.

She slumped down onto the icy curb on a random street halfway home, burying her head in her hands out of frustration. She was willing herself not to cry, but it wasn't working very well. Maybe Derek wasn't as perfect as she had always given him credit for. She'd held him up on a pedestal, but maybe he didn't belong there. Maybe he wasn't the amazing guy she thought he was. She could finally admit to herself that maybe she had fallen in love with a different Derek than the one she had right now. She was still in love with him, but she wasn't sure if the Derek she loved now was one that could ever love her back. Maybe all he was to her was another girl; another girl who he would eventually leave heartbroken. Maybe that was all she'd ever be. She winced at the thought, but she was determined to change things. She could make their relationship better; she knew she could. It would take a lot of patience and a lot of hard work; from the both of them, but she was almost certain that she could turn things around for them.

"I'm not going to let her take him from me." she whispered to herself, wiping a tear away and staring down the street with determination. "Whatever it takes, she will _never _be with Derek."

* * *

**See that little button down there? It's begging to be clicked. Don't let it down :( :( It'll cry :( :( **


	12. Bruises and Lies

**Nothing much to say except read and enjoy :) Oh, and review. Oh and I tried to tie the wish and Shane into this chapter a little bit; so those things are mentioned. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**Chapter Twelve: Bruises and Lies**

She walked around London for the remainder of the time that she would normally be in class. She was afraid that one of her parents would be home for lunch, and would question why she was home early. So she waited until the time that she would normally be getting home before actually going there. When she tried the door however, it was locked, signalling that nobody was home yet. Sighing, she unlocked it and went inside, tossing her coat onto the coat rack and her bookbag onto the floor by the stairs. She settled onto the couch to watch TV, wondering what would happen when Derek got home from school. She knew that there had been a lot of things left unsaid in their conversation earlier, and a lot of questions left unanswered. She intended on getting her answers, but wanted to refrain from anymore fighting. She was hoping that they could have a civil conversation to work things out, instead of yelling and lying.

But by the time four o'clock rolled around, there was still no sign of Derek. He hadn't called, and he hadn't shown up. She was starting to get worried, but she didn't want to call his cellphone after the fight that they had been having earlier. Besides, she didn't want to seem too protective. But her worries were doused at four fifteen when Derek finally walked in through the front door, bookbag slung over his shoulder, an angry expression planted on his face. He tossed his bag agressively to the floor and flicked his jacket on top of it, not bothering to hang it up. She hoped that his anger wasn't directed towards her. He looked over at her briefly and turned away, heading towards the stairs.

"Derek wait." she said, but she heard his footsteps start to go upstairs. She jumped up off of the couch and darted up the stairs after him. "Derek! Would you _stop_?"

She grabbed his arm and turned him around. When she did, she drew in a sharp breath. His cheek was swollen up rather badly in a reddish purple color. Casey gasped and drew her hand back from his arm. He avoided her gaze, apparantly embarassed by the situation.

"Derek!'' she cried, shocked. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Nothing Casey, I'm fine." he tried to tell her, but she rolled her eyes at his inability to lie to her.

"Derek; coming home with your face swollen up isn't usually classified as being fine." she urged him, taking his hand and leading him down the stairs to the couch. She pointed at the couch, ordering him to sit. He did, and she held up one finger, telling him that she would be right back. She darted out into the kitchen and; when she returned, she had an icepack in her hand. She handed it to Derek, who placed it on the side of his face and jumped at the slight sting. Casey took a seat next to him and examined his cheek, wincing at the bruises.

"Now tell me what happened to you." Casey instructed him firmly. "And don't say it was nothing Derek, I want to know."

"I just got into a fight with this guy from another school." Derek said, shrugging his shoulders. "No big deal. We're old enemies."

Casey relaxed a bit, though she had to admit that seeing Derek injured was bringing back painful memories from her wish. Her anger from earlier had; for the moment; subsided. She was just concentrated on making sure that he was alright.

"Are you okay? What happened?" she asked, trying to control her breathing. "Why did you get into a fight in the first place?"

"No reason." he shrugged, still holding the ice up to his cheek. "Just a slight disagreement. But I'm fine, honestly I am."

"Are you sure?" she asked, studying him with concern. He rolled his eyes and gave her a slight grin.

"I'm fine Casey." he said playfully. "It was just a little hit. It actually didn't hurt too much. You know me, I'm tough, I bounce back. The bruise will pobably be gone in a day or so. I heal quick."

"Alright then.." she said slowly, not totally convinced. She reached out and brushed his hair off of his face for him. When she caught sight of the bruise again, she couldn't control it. She broke down and started crying. Every painful memory from the final day of her wish was now flooding back to her in one powerful wave. Derek; for a moment; barely realized what was going on, but then he saw her shoulders shaking, and her head bowed down into both of her hands.

"Casey?" he asked, placing a hand on the small of her back gently. She didn't respond. "Casey what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

She couldn't answer that question. She hated how she had to struggle so much with the memories of what had happened; and she couldn't even talk to Derek about it. He'd think she was mental if she were to tell him the truth. So she took a deep breath and tried to explain it as best as she could.

"Have you ever had a dream that seemed more than real?" she asked, hoping that this was close enough to the truth to get her point across. "You know, when you actually think it's all real?"

So maybe she was stretching the truth a bit. The wish had been real. Or at least; she could only assume it was. But of course, she couldn't tell him that. Calling it a dream was the only way that she wouldn't come off as mental to Derek. She looked up to see him give a shrug.

"Sometimes." he admitted, nodding. "What's this all about?"

"I just had this really really bad dream a while back." she said as he rubbed small circles on her back, obviously trying to comfort her.

"It seems like it's gotten you shaken up pretty badly." he said gently. "Care to talk about it?"

She shook her head, not wanting to go into detail about it. She didn't want to freak him out by saying that she had dreamt of him being murdered; even if hadn't really been a dream.

"No." she said, wiping her tears away. "All you need to know is that it was really bad, and it makes me a bit overreactive over the smallest things."

"Like when you snatched the knife from me yesterday?" he suggested, raising an eyebrow. She nodded and he offered her a soft smile. "It's just a dream baby. Don't be worried. I'm right here for you whenever you need me. You know that right?"

"Yeah I know that." she said, nodding. He reached over and wiped one of her tears away, wrapping an arm around her shoulder gently. He smiled at her.

''Relax okay?"

But she couldn't. Once she started remembering the wish; she usually couldn't push it from her mind for the longest time. Suddenly something occured to her, and she mentally slapped herself, wondering why she had never thought to ask him before.

''Hey Derek can I ask you something?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Anything."

"Do you know someone named Shane Wilder?" she asked, turning to search his features for any sign of recognition. She saw something like fear flash across his features and he nodded.

"Yeah I do know him Casey." he said coldly. "But I'm wondering how the hell _you_ know him."

"Well when I lived in Toronto I knew somebody who knew him." Casey lied, realizing that Shane Wilder being a real person confirmed that the wish really had happened; it had not been a dream. Derek seemed to relax a bit, but he still looked concerned. His grip on her shoulder tightened almost protectively.

"What made you ask me that?" he asked, his brow furrowed with confusion. "Did you see him lately? Did he say anything to you?"

"No no, nothing like that." she assured him, shaking her head. "I was just wondering if you knew him. When was the last time you saw him?"

Derek bit his lip, and appeared to be thinking hard. After a moment, he glanced back at her and gave a shrug with one shoulder.

"Maybe three months ago?" he suggested, and she felt her heart tighten in her chest. Derek had seen Shane more recently than she had; since she had returned from her wish. "Our team was up against his in hockey. You were at my game Case; didn't you see him?"

Casey froze. She had been so close to him and she hadn't even realized. Derek had been even closer. She shuddered at the thought.

"No. I didn't realize." she said, shaking her head. "What's he like Derek? I haven't seen him since uh- since I moved."

Dereks face darkened and he scowled. It was obvious that Derek and Shane hated each other just as much as they always had.

"He's a horrible person Casey." Derek said darkly. "I happen to know that he can be very violent- and very controlling over his girlfriends and anyone who contradicts him."

So he hadn't changed; not at all from what Derek was telling Casey. He was still the same violent, controlling, abusive guy that he had been all along. Casey found that this didn't really surprise her. Someone could only get to be that way as a result of long time habit; not the influence of one single person; especially her. She sighed. She was suddenly glad that she didn't have to face him anymore; and neither did Derek; for the most part.

"I don't want to talk about Shane anymore alright?" Derek suddenly said, snapping her out of her trance. "I want to talk to you about what happened earlier. You just stormed out of there as soon as Meghan showed up and you wouldn't come back when I called after you."

"I know." she said, leaning back against the back of the couch. Derek moved with her, his arm still around her. "I was mad at you. But you can't really blame me; can you? You flat out lied to me Derek."

"Because I thought you would get mad if I told you that I really had spent Saturday with Meghan." he said quietly. "And I was right. You did get mad."

Casey nodded, agreeing with him.

"You're right Derek; I did get mad, but it made it even worse that you lied to me." she said, and his face fell. "You tried to tell me that you hadn't been hanging out with her at all; and that wasn't true."

"I know, and I'm sorry okay?" he said, sighing heavily. "It was wrong of me to lie and I know that. But can we please not fight anymore?"

Casey thought long and hard. She didn't want to just drop the subject because Derek didn't want to fight. That wasn't fair and it most certainly wouldn't help their unstable relationship. She kept allowing herself to let Dereks unacceptable behaviour slide; but she was starting to see that doing so might just be a mistake. Everytime she let him off the hook; he just hurt her again; twice as bad as before .

"No Derek; we need to discuss this." she insisted, and he groaned, closing his eyes and tilting his head back against the couch. "I don't want to fight anymore than you do; and that's why we need to talk things out. If we don't we'll just end up in another fight."

Derek pulled his arm away from her shoulders and leaned forwards for a moment, propping his elbows up against his knees and entwining his hands together in front of him.

"Casey I don't get what we're even fighting about anymore." he said in exasperation. "What is this about to you? What did I do wrong?"

"You're lying to me!'' she cried in frustration. "And not just about where you went on Saturday afternoon either. Why do I get the feeling that you knew perfectly well that Meghan would be at the mall on Saturday?"

"Casey I really didn't-"

"And why the hell are you always on the phone with her?" she yelled, so overwhelmed with her suspicions that she was shaking. "Why is it that everytime I go up to your room lately you're just hanging up from a phone call with her?"

"Because she's my friend Casey!" Derek yelled back; standing up. "Dammit Casey! I am _allowed _to have friends! You have friends don't you? Why can't I?"

If it wasn't for the conversation that she had overheard between Derek and Meghan only a few hours before; she probably would have accepted this answer. But seeing as she didn't want to let on she was eavesdropping, she seemed to be out of useful arguments.

"I'm sick of fighting Derek." she sighed, defeated. She gave him one last searching look. "Look, do you swear to me that there is nothing going on that you're not telling me about?"

She knew; of course; that there was something going on. She had already overheard Derek telling Meghan that he was keeping something from her. Now all she needed was an actual confession from him. At least if he admitted that there was something going on; she would know that she could; at the very least; trust him to tell her the truth. But her hopes died away when Derek shook his head, not looking her in the eye.

"No, theres nothing I have to tell you." he lied. Casey just stared at him, unable to believe that he had just lied straight to her face. But as she watched him, she could have sworn that she saw a glimpse of remorse flicker across his features. But when she blinked, it was gone; and he simply looked tired and frustrated.

"Alright." she said quietly, knowing that she had to accept this answer.

She sighed. If Derek wouldn't admit anything to her, she was just going to have to figure things out for herself. And however hard it may be; she intended on doing it.

* * *

**Alright the end of this chapter is a bit rushed; I literally finished off this chapter twenty seconsd ago. I was going to hold off and finish it later; but if I did that it might not be out until tomorrow night because I won't be home for most of today so here we go lol ! Review please, it's begging to be clicked. The more reviews I get; the faster I update!**


	13. Overachieving

**There was a delay in this chapter for a multitude of reasons ; none of which I will endlessly bore you with. To make a long story short, I wasn't recieving alerts, and I hate posting with alerts down, and I literally couldn't decide how to end this chapter. I was actually worried I would think of nothing but here we are. On the plus side, my writers block on this chapter did not extend to others, and I basically have this story almost completed on my computer. I got the most reviews last chapter, almost 30 :) That's the most from this story so keep it up . :) **

**Disclaimer: If I owned LWD, it would be a very different show; but sadly, I own nothing.**

**Chapter Thirteen: Overachieving**

The next few days were unbearably akward between her and Derek. Casey was starting to find that she couldn't even look at Derek the same as she had before. Everytime she did, she had to wonder how much truth there was in whatever he said to her. She kept an eye out for anything suspicious but so far; she had found nothing odd except for the fact that Derek seemed oddly distant from everybody; including her. She was watching TV with him on Friday night when their parents were gone out to an anniversary party, Lizzie was at her friends, and Edwin and Marti had gone to visit their mother. She had asked Derek why he hadn't wanted to go; but he had merely shrugged and returned his gaze to the TV. She should have known better than to ask, because Derek never visited his mother. He had barely spoken two words to her within the past hour; and that led her to believe that something was on his mind.

"Derek?" she finally asked, looking up at him. "Is everything okay?"

"Mhm." he said, not shifting his gaze from the TV; but she got the impression that he wasn't paying an ounce of attention to what was on.

"Are you sure?"

''Mhm."

"Derek could you please try and say more than one word to me when you answer?" she asked, frustrated. "It's called civil conversation. Use it."

"I know how to use it; I just prefer not to." he snapped. Seeing the hurt look in her eyes, he offered her a small smile and leaned over to kiss her cheek quickly. "I'm sorry baby; I'm just distracted."

"What's distracting you?" she said, rather thinking that she should have used the word 'who' instead of 'what'. "Is there anything on your mind that I should know about?"

Derek gave a forced grin, the kind that he often wore when he was nervous or insecure about something.

"I'm perfectly fine Case." he said, yawning and stretching his hands above his head. "What time are the kids due back?"

Casey sighed. He wasn't going to open up to her. She couldn't say she was surprised, but she had to wonder why Derek had asked this question about four times now.

"Lizzie is getting dropped off by her friends mother at nine and I think your mother is dropping Edwin and Marti off in about," she checked her watch, "well pretty soon actually."

Derek bit his lip and nodded before turning his attention back to the TV. Casey sighed. There was just no getting ahead with him. He didn't speak again until the front door opened up and Edwin and Marti came in through the front door with snowflakes strewn across the tops of their heads. They were immediately followed by a rather tall woman with medium length brown hair that was almost the same color of Derek's. As she stepped in through the door, she brushed little flakes of snow off of her head and wiped her boots on the mat by the door. Looking up; she noticed Derek and Casey sitting there. Casey; who had been holding Derek's hand, dropped it before she had a chance to notice. The woman smiled.

"You must be Casey." she said in a friendly tone. "I have heard so many good things about you from all my kids."

Casey stood up and crossed the room until she was standing directly in front of the smiling woman. She was vaguely aware of the fact that Derek had followed her, and he was standing so close behind her that she could almost feel the heat of his body against hers. She gave a small nod to indicate that the woman was right.

"Yeah I'm Casey." she said, forcing a tiny smile. "Are you-"

"Yes, I'm their mother." the ex Mrs.Venturi finished for Casey. "You can call me Abby."

They watched as Marti tossed her coat onto the nearest coat hook and kicked her boots into the corner. Abby gave a tight lipped smile.

"Marti put your things away properly please."

"Daddy never makes me do it." Marti declared, throwing herself at the couch happily. She grabbed the remote off the coffee table, unaware of the fact that her mother was still giving her a very stern look, one that even Casey feared.

"Marti, I am asking you to put away your things properly." her mother instructed her; her tone remaining quite determined. "I don't care whether or not your father makes you do it; I'm telling you to do it and I expect you to listen to me."

Casey turned her head to see whether or not Marti had paid any attention to her mother and instead saw Derek rolling his eyes at his mothers commands.

"She's only seven years old Mom." Derek reminded her in an annoyed tone. "Just leave her alone. I'll do it for her if it's such a big deal."

"I want Marti to learn how to do it herself." his mother insisted, shaking her head. "Your father always did these things for you when you were little and just look how you turned out."

Casey was close enough to Derek to feel his body stiffen upon hearing his mothers comment. She had to admit that for a mother to say that to her child wasa little more than harsh. Derek may be a bit unorganized, but there was nothing wrong with him. Not to the extent that she should make a comment like that anyway.

"Whatever Mom." Derek said, running a hand through his hair. "Smarti, you want to come over here and put away your things like you were told?"

"Okay Smerek." Marti chimed happily as she jumped up from the couch, letting the remote fall behind her. She giggled as Derek grabbed her around the waist and spun her once, causing her to sway when he put her back down. As she proceeded in putting away her winter clothing the way her mother had asked, the ex Mrs.Venturi spoke again.

"I thought I told you to stop it with those horrid nicknames; it's corrupting her." she said angrily, causing Derek to give a harsh laugh.

"She's just a kid for god sakes; leave her alone."

"Like I said; I let your father baby you through life and I don't intend on doing the same thing with my daughter." she said coldly, shooting Derek a glare. "I only get to spend time with her once a week, at best, meaning that the rest of you have a lot more influence over her characater than I do."

''Thank god for that." Derek muttered under his breath; but she heard him anyway. Her eyes narrowed at him as Edwin snuck away as quietly as he could towards the stairs.

"You need to learn how to control your temper a bit more young man." Abby said, adjusting her purse on her shoulder. "And Edwin?"

Edwin, who had made it halfway up the stairs, stopped in his tracks. Casey could have sworn she heard him groan in frustration as he turned to face his mother, a fake smile plastered across his face.

"Yes Mom?" he asked through gritted teeth. Abby seemed to take absolutely no notice of his discomfort and smiled.

"You make sure you keep your grades up." she reminded him, tapping her head. "You've got the brains in this family and Lord knows we can't afford to let them go to waste as much as they have with your brother."

Derek rolled his eyes and watched as Marti made her way back to the couch to watch TV. Abby scanned her work quickly before giving a brief smile.

''Good job Marti." she said brightly. "And remember what I told you. I want you to practice those multiplication tables every night with your father before you go to bed."

"Multiplication tables?" Derek repeated incredulously. Abby shot her son a stern look.

"Yes, multiplcation tables." she confirmed, nodding. "Is that a problem?"

Derek looked for a moment as though he was about to argue with her, but Casey elbowed him very discreetly in the stomach. She heard him draw in a sharp breath before giving his mother a very forced smile.

"No; that's not a problem at all." he lied, trying to keep his anger in. "I'll personally see to it that she does that."

Abby gave a grateful nod before turning and making her way out the door, completely unaware that everybody in the room was happy to see her go. The second the door closed, everyone let out a sigh of relief and they all seemed to relax a bit more. Derek yawned and turned on the spot to go back to where he had been sitting on the couch.

"Out of my spot Smarti." he said in a bored voice, picking her up and placing her on his lap. She leaned her head back against her brothers shoulder, a serious look spread across her face.

"I don't really have to do multipli-whatsits do I?" she asked with a pained expression on her face. "And you aren't going to stop calling me Smarti, are you?"

Derek laughed and kissed his little sisters forehead, causing a smile to spread across her face. Casey took a seat next to the pair of them and watched as Marti looked at Derek expectantly.

"Never." he assured her, ruffling her hair a bit. "You'll always be my Smarti. And don't worry about the math. Dad would never make you do that sort of thing. That's mental."

''Okay Smerek!" the little girl said, a huge smile plastered across her face. She leaned up and gave her brother a kiss on the cheek before snatching the remote from his hands and changing the channel to her favorite show. Derek sighed and picked her up, swinging her to his left against the arm of the couch.

"Where are you going?" Casey asked him curiously, raising an eyebrow. He gave her a smirk and extended his hand to her, asking her to follow. She hesitantly took his hand and allowed him to lead her upstairs into his room. He closed the door behind them and leaned back against the headboard of his bed, pulling her down next to him. She let her head rest on his shoulder and her hand rest against his chest almost posessively. He grinned.

"So tell me;" he started, sounding amused, "What did you think of my mother?''

Casey bit her lip to keep from blurting out a very rude opinion of his mother. To be honest, Casey thought that Abby seemed like a bit of a bitch. The way she had spoke to Derek had been absolutely horrible,. No mother should ever say those sorts of things to their kids. The way she spoke to Edwin and Marti wasn't much better, but at least she wasn't insulting them like she did with Derek. She had come off as bossy and controlling when it came to the younger Venturi's. It was almost as though she knew they were younger, and could be more easily influenced than her seventeen year old son could be. Casey reached up and wrapped a strand of Derek's hair around her pointer finger thoughtfully.

"She seems very .. um .. interesting." Casey said, hoping that this statement would come off as genuine, but Derek laughed.

"That's one word for it." he agreed, a smile still on his face. "I always thought she was sort of like you actually."

Casey's heart dropped and she sat up straight, a hurt and angry look spreading across her face quickly. Derek raised an eyebrow at her sudden actions, unaware that he had said anything wrong. Casey decided to make it a little clearer for him.

"So I'm like your mother, am I?" she snapped, feeling rather hurt by his comment. Her voice became so quiet that it was bearly audible as she continued. "Derek you _hate_ your mother. What does that say about how you feel about me?"

Derek wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her back down against his chest. Despite how his comment had just affected her, she allowed herself to relax into his arms, though she never tore her eyes away from his as she awaited further explanation. He kissed her forehead, leaving her skin tingling under his touch.

"I meant the whole super-keener thing, babe." he clarified, with a trace of a smile. "I never meant her personality. It's just that you both see the need to overachieve. My mother focuses way too much on the little things."

"Are you calling academic achievement unimportant?" she asked scornfully.

"Never!" he said jokingly, rolling his eyes. She hit his chest lightly but said nothing more on the subject. "I really think that this whole overachieving thing is what tore me and my mother apart though.'' he said, his face becoming very serious all of a sudden. "I mean, it wasn't always like it is now."

"It wasn't?" Casey asked, surprised. Derek had never mentioned this to her before. She brushed her hand against his cheek gently before trailing it down and letting it come to rest on his neck. "You never told me that before."

Derek nodded, biting his lip for a moment. When he spoke again, he seemed almost hesitant to be having this conversation ; but nonetheless, he continued.

"She used to like me." he said quietly, a faraway look in his eyes. "When I was little, she was really nice to me and we got along great. But then when I was four, she enrolled me in all these weird toddler education programs. It was like pre-school, except a bit harder. Anyway, she kept telling my Dad that you had to start proper education young. But it only took her a couple of weeks to see that I just wasn't interested in anything they were teaching there. The only time I would do well or be motivated to participate was in the sports program they had there. It didn't help that when she enrolled Edwin in the same program a few years later, he did excellent."

"That's stupid." Casey noted angrily. "How can she expect a four year old to be interested in education?"

"She expects Marti to memorize multiplication tables." Derek reminded her with a forced laugh. "I think it's pretty clear that she has some perfect idea of perfection in her head, and I'm not it."

There was something else in Derek's tone as he spoke; but Casey couldn't quite pinpoint it. She shrugged it off as nothing and prepared to ask a question that she felt she needed to know the answer to.

"Am I like that Derek?" she asked quietly. He looked down at her with confusion plastered across his face. "Am I an overachiever?"

Derek bit his lip and tilted his head back against the headboards as though he didn't want to answer that question honestly. But she wanted to know the honest truth, and she knew that it would mean more coming from Derek.

"Be honest Derek." she said. He sighed and looked back down at her.

"You can be a bit of an overachiever, I guess." he said, and her face fell in disappointment. "I mean you're always studying, or working on some sort of project."

"It's called wanting to do good in life, Derek." she said, annoyed. "Lots of people do it."

"But you're fine just the way you are." he said softly, giving her a faint smile and hugging her closer. She looked away quickly, blushing at his comment but he tilted her chin back up so that he could look into her eyes.

"Look at me Casey," he said sternly, yet gently. "You're amazing, okay? Don't think I haven't noticed all the changes you've made to yourself in the past few months; because I have."

"Changes?" she asked, arching one eyebrow up curiously. "What sort of changes?"

Derek gave a small laugh, one that clearly indicated that nothing was funny; he was just fed up with something.

"It's mostly physical." he said with a shrug. "You put on more makeup, you never seem to eat as much and you wear a lot more jewellery than before. That stuff is for me I guess, but I'm not the only one you've been changing for. You've been studying like crazy and doing every little thing your mother asks you to do''

"I do not." Casey argued angrily. She paused when Derek nodded at her. Her face fell and she softened towards him. Her voice dropped to a whisper as the truth hit her square in the face. "Do I?"

Derek nodded with a half smile on his face.

"Yeah you do." he said softly, and she looked away for a moment. Had she really been doing all of those things? She hadn't been concious of it; that much was for sure. She wasn't trying to impress Derek was she? But the more she thought about it, she realized that everytime another girl had been flirting with Derek, and sometimes even after one of their fights, she would always find herself looking in the mirror and fixing herself up. She hadn't realized that it had been to impress Derek, but maybe it had been. Maybe she had been feeling like she wasn't enough.

But she reminded herself that this feeling wasn't her fault. Derek was _making _her feel this way, especially since Meghan came into the picture. She had been fighting hard to keep Derek away from Meghan, and she was constantly feeling like Meghan was better than she was.

"You don't have to change to impress me, Casey." he said, kissing her forehead gently. "If you remember correctly, I started having feelings for you long before we got together. That means that I liked you before; even when you were just my klutzy, grade grubbing stepsister. You don't have to do anything special for me."

"I'm not trying to." she said truthfully. She lay her head back against Derek's shoulder and closed her eyes, not wanting to discuss this any further. She hated how confusing Derek was being. One minute he was letting Meghan all over him; which made Casey feel like she wasn't enough for him; and the next second, he was telling her that she was amazing just the way she was. Was this another lie? Aftter all, he had proved himself to be a very good liar within the past few days. Casey sighed. All she wanted was a boyfriend who wasn't so damn hard to figure out. Was that really asking for too much?

* * *

**So I don't know if I liked how this chapter turned out; but I seriously felt that I had to post something. I hate stretches between updating. Review, my friends, and more shall come :) :) **


	14. Far Away

**This is the longest chapter yet I think. The rest of them are actually pretty long. On that note; the official countdown is on! I have basically finished writing this story, and it will end at nineteen chapters. Maybe an epilogue, because I think I'll need one. I don't want to leave it like I did. So there is five chapters after this one! Anyways, I felt bad about how long it took to update last time that I went ahead and touched up this chapter so that I could get another update out! Read and review! By the way, some stronger language in this chapter. Not much, but I just wanted to warn you. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Life With Derek, London, or Alberta :):) Nope, I own nothing !! **

**Chapter Fourteen: Far Away**

A full week and come and gone almost uneventfully. Casey had refrained from fighting with Derek more than necessary, but she was still completely aware that their relationship was by no means on solid ground. Derek was still hiding things from her, and he was now spending just as much with with Meghan outside of school as he did during school hours. Casey was still having trouble accepting the fact that he had lied straight to her face about keeping things from her, but she refused to bring it up with him. She didn't want to seem like she had been listening in on his private conversations.

It was eight o'clock on a Saturday night, and Casey was in her room getting ready to go out. Derek was taking her to the musical that he had promised to attend that night and they were due to leave in about ten minutes. They had told their parents the truth this time. Derek had explained simply that he had gotten the tickets for next to nothing ( which Casey happened to know wasn't true ) and that he had offered to take her to it for a birthday gift. Their parents had been slightly suspicious, but had shrugged it off as a kind brotherly gesture. If only they knew how wrong they were.

Casey put the finishing touches on her make-up and smiled at her reflection in the mirror. She personally thought she looked pretty good, and Derek was never one to disagree with that. She frowned for a moment as she realized that she was doing the one thing that Derek had told her she didn't have to do. She had just spent the past hour doing her hair and makeup alone. She shrugged. She was going out, and if she wanted to look good, she deserved to. She smoothed down her hair one more time before turning and making her way towards Derek's bedroom. She only had to stick her head in the doorway to realize that Derek wasn't in there. She frowned and looked around the hallway. The bathroom door was open, meaning that he wasn't in there either, and she knew for a fact that he wasn't in Edwin, Lizzie or Marti's bedrooms. She sighed and made her way downstairs. It wouldn't surprise her if he had taken all of five minutes to get ready. He was a guy after all, meaning that he spent very little time getting ready. She often wondered how he managed to look as good as he did without any effort at all.

She came to a stop at the landing of the stairs and looked around, observing her surroundings. Marti was playing with a beauty kit on the floor, Edwin was playing Babe Raider by himself, and George was reading the newspaper.

"Where's my mother and Lizzie?" she asked, noticing that those two were also missing. George barely glanced up from his paper.

"Your mother took Lizzie out to find new soccer cleats or something." he said absent-mindedly, clearly paying very little attention to her.

"Alright then," she said, taking the last step into the living room. "Have you seen Derek?"

"He's in his room."

"No he isn't." Casey said, shaking her head. "I was just up there. He must have come downstairs."

"I saw him go up there twenty minutes ago and he hasn't been down since." George said, laying his newspaper down and glancing at Casey curiously. "He must be there."

"I have eyes, and they're working quite well." Casey said, annoyed. "He isn't there."

George stared at her for another moment before standing and crossing the living room. He drew back the curtain and looked out the window. He dropped the curtain and looked back at Casey, his brows furrowed together.

"That's weird," he said, glancing outside again. "The car is gone."

"The car is _gone_?" Casey repeated, darting to the window and staring out at the driveway. George was right. The car was no longer in the driveway. "Are you sure Mom and Lizzie never took it?"

"They took the van." George said, scratching his forehead in confusion. "I don't get where he could have gone. Weren't you two supposed to be leaving soon?"

"We're supposed to be leaving now." Casey said angrily. "I don't know where the hell he went this time. I'm calling his cellphone."

She snatched the phone away from Edwin, who had just paused his game and started to dial a number.

"Hey!" Edwin cried defensively, making a snatch for the phone. "Give that back!"

"Get a cell." Casey grumbled, ignoring the fact that she could be using her own cell. "I have to check where your idiot of a brother is gone."

She dialed the number to Derek's cellphone and let it ring through a couple of times. She sighed impatiently as his voice mail cut in.

"You've reached Derek. You know what to do."

Derek's voice was followed by a long beep, and then the silence in which she considered leaving him a message. She thought it over for a minute and hung up. If his cell was off, or if he was ignoring calls, he probably wouldn't get the message in time to call her back.

"Voicemail." she informed her stepfather, who rolled his eyes.

Just as she hung up the phone, she realized that her own cellphone had been turned off all this time. Sighing, she flipped open her cell and turned it on. George watched her as she pressed a few buttons and accessed her voicemail. An automated message instantly played to tell her that she had no new messages. She sighed, and flipped her phone shut .

"Nice, Derek," she muttered angrily. "Real nice."

George looked at her with pity before returning to the couch and picking up his newspaper again. Casey narrowed her eyes at him and placed a hand on her hip.

"What are you doing?" she asked him angrily, wondering how he could be so calm at a time like this. "Don't you realize that Derek is _gone_?"

George didn't even look up from his newspaper as he responded.

"He'll be back, Casey." he assured her, waving a hand absent mindedly. "Don't worry about him."

He looked up for a moment to see disappointment etched across Casey's face boldly. He sighed and placed the newspaper on his knees, looking up again.

"Honestly Casey, what did you expect?" George laughed. "It's Derek. This is what he does. As much as it kills me to say this about my own son, you just can't trust Derek to keep his word. If I got upset everytime he didn't stick to his words to me, I'd never be happy again. Cheer up. I'm sure he'll make it up to you."

With that said, George made another attempt to return to his newspaper. Casey hated that George couldn't fully understand how serious this situation was; because George didn't know that tonight wasn't a 'kind brotherly gesture', as their parents so strongly believed. Tonight was a date; a date that involved Derek taking her to somewhere she'd always wanted to go. And as much as Derek had been acting like a jerk lately, she really couldn't see him just ditching her for no reason. That wasn't like Derek; not at all; and that meant that he had run off somewhere. And she needed to find him. She took a deep breath and snatched the newspaper from George, tossing it onto the coffee table. Her stepfather gave her a desperate look.

"What do you have against me reading the newspaper?" he whined. "You're mother does the exact same thing all the time; and quite frankly, it's a bit irritating."

"We have to go look for Derek." she said sternly, not cracking a smile. George opened his mouth to protest but Casey rushed on. "I know that you think this is just Derek being himself but I promise you that there's more to this. Derek may be a bit of a jerk sometimes; and I know he has a habit of not sticking to his word; but he wouldn't run off on me tonight; I know he wouldn't."

"I beg to differ." George interrupted, but Casey shushed him by grabbing him by the elbow and hauling him up.

"You'll thank me for this later, George." she assured him, knowing that she was right about this. He raised an eyebrow at her, clearly still not convinced that this was something to be worried about. Her face fell and she cast him one more pleading look.

"Please George," she begged, not shifting her gaze from his. "I can't explain everything to you, but Derek didn't forget about the musical tonight; I can tell you that much. He snuck out of the house, meaning that he's up to something. He took the car without your permission, meaning that he's going somewhere that requires getting a ride; and that means he could be pretty far. And last but not least; when was the last time that Derek didn't answer his cellphone?"

"Casey I honestly don't think that this is anything to be-"

"Please," she said one last time. George searched her face quickly for any hint as to what was going on; but he found no sign of the truth. Reluctantly, he sighed and grabbed his cellphone off of the coffee table, dialing in Nora's cellphone number.

"Edwin, Marti, get your jackets on." he instructed them, still staring at Casey with a strange expression on his face. "We're going to get Nora back here with the van and we're going out to look for your brother."

They didn't need to be told twice. While George called Nora and briefed her on the situation, the two youngest children had shrugged into their jackets and slipped on their footwear. Within moments, Nora was on the way home with Lizzie, and the four of them were waiting anxiously in the porch for Nora to show up.

- - - - - -

"Fucking useless," Casey cried in frustration as the whole family, minus Derek, piled back into the house. "Six hours, and we didn't find a single person who knew where Derek was. That was a waste of fucking time."

"Watch your language, Casey." Nora said, running a tired hand through her hair, not really concerned about what language her daughter was using at the moment. She stored the keys to the van in her coat pocket and hung it up next to Casey's on the coatrack. Completely defeated, all six of them trudged into the living room, feeling unbelieveably worn out. They had just spent the last six hours driving around London searching for Derek. They had checked everywhere that they could think of. They had been to all the restauraunts that Derek usually hung out at, the movie theatre, the mall, and any other place that Derek was known to hang out. While they had been driving, Casey had been frantically dialing the numbers of anyone who knew Derek, asking if they had heard from or seen him. Sadly, nobody had any good news for her.

Casey was even more disappointed when they had pulled up in the driveway and Derek's car wasn't there. If he wasn't home at two am, it was pretty obvious that something was up. She was just worried that something bad had happened to him. Images of Derek getting into an accident or getting hurt somehow kept flashing into her mind, stabbing at her heart painfully and making her want to cry. Why was Derek doing this to her? She knew that he wouldn't do this without good reason; so where the hell was he? If he wasn't home, did that mean that he was hurt, or had run off for some other reason?

"I'm going to call all of our relatives in the morning and see if anybody has heard from him." George said, rubbing his eyes in frustration. "It's too late to call them now, and there isn't much else we can do tonight. We'll get a head start bright and early tomorrow. If he isn't back by tomorrow evening I'm calling in and reporting him missing; this is ridiculous."

"Isn't there like, a forty eight hour waiting time to report a child missing?" Edwin asked innocently, yet his voice was shaky and it was quite easy to tell that he was worried about his older brother.

"I don't know; but I'm doing it anyway." George snapped irritably. "What kind of world do we live in if you have to wait to report a childs disappearance? Casey, did he say anything to you today, anything at all that would indicate something like this?"

Casey thought back to earlier that day. It seemed like ages since she had been talking to Derek. In fact, the last time she had saw him had been after supper, when she had briefly passed him in the hallway long enough to say hello. She wished now that she had said more; maybe she could have stopped this. She let her mind travel further back into the day, into the afternoon in which she had spent with him. She tried to remember every last thing that he had said to her; but what she could remember didn't come off as suspicious to her at all. In fact, Derek had seemed to be having a fairly good day; they'd barely fought once. She shook her head sadly.

"I can't think of anything important." she told him regretfully. He cringed and looked away, clearly trying to make some sense out of this whole situation. He only glanced up when he heard Marti yawn from across the room. Casey's gaze wandered to her younger stepsister; who had been blatantly ignored for most of the night due to the overwhelming pressure that the family had been under. The poor girl's eyes were drooping and her body was laying limply against the back of the couch. Casey softened and realized how tired Marti must be. Her bedtime was usually around nine o'clock, and it was now two o'clock in the morning. Add the missed sleep to all of the stress and Casey had to wonder how Marti hadn't passed out already.

"It's time for bed, Marti." George said weakly, making his way towards her. He reached out to pick her up when Marti suddenly swiped at his arms, causing him to pull back.

"No!" she screamed at her father angrily. Casey could tell that the sleep deprivation was catching up to her. George studied her curiously, surprised by her sudden burst of energy. The little girl had barely spoken five words the whole night; and now she was yelling.

"Marti I don't understand." George said honestly, watching his daughter carefully. Marti stuck out her lower lip and pointed a tiny finger towards Casey.

"I want Casey to put me to bed." she said pleadingly, shooting her older stepsister a desperate look. "Please Casey?"

Casey softened and offered her little stepsister a caring smile. She crossed the room and lifted Marti up into her arms. Marti wrapped her arms around her neck and smiled contently at her.

"Thank you Casey." George said articulately, returning to his pacing. Casey walked up the stairs and down the hallway with Marti in her arms, half asleep. She helped her get changed into her pajamas and reminded her to brush her teeth, reluctantly remembering the time that Derek had mocked her for making Marti do such things before bed.

_'She's going to bed, not on a date.' _he had said to her. She gave a small laugh at the memory as she tucked Marti safely into her bed. Marti gave Casey a strange look as she laughed, but shrugged it off; apparantly deciding that she didn't want to know what was so funny. Her face instantly turned serious, and she looked up at Casey with tired eyes.

"Casey, where's Smerek?" she asked sadly. Casey's heart wrenched for the little girl, who had never looked so broken in her life. Casey had been so caught up with her own pain and misery that she hadn't even realized what an effect that this whole thing must be having on poor little innocent Marti. Having her brother randomly disappear and nobody really stopping to explain to her what was going on couldn't be easy.

Casey pulled the blankets up further over Marti's tiny body and tucked her in tighter. She brushed a strand of loose hair away from Marti's eyes and offered her the tiniest of smiles.

"I can't really answer that Marti." she said truthfully. "I wish I could but I can't."

"Because you don't know either, or because you don't want to tell me?" Marti asked, and Casey raised her eyebrows at the little girl. For someone so young, she asked some very mature questions. Luckily, Casey had the answer to this one.

"If I knew where Derek was, I'd tell you, trust me." she assured Marti, who seemed to relax a bit. "But I really don't know where he is."

"Is he okay?" Marti asked, fear filling her young face boldly. A little nagging voice in the back of her head told her to lie to Marti and tell her that Derek was absolutely fine; but her logical half was telling her to be honest. If she was in Marti's situation, she wouldn't want to be treated like some stupid little girl who couldn't handle the truth.

"I hope so, Marti." she said gently, her voice cracking as she spoke. As she realized what she had just said, she felt a sharp stinging behind her eyes. She blinked the tears back for Marti's sake and went to stand up. Marti's pained voice made her turn around again.

"I just want my brother back." was all she said, before breaking down and crying. Casey softened and returned to the edge of the bed, rubbing Marti's back gently and whispering words of comfort to her until she dropped off to sleep.

When Casey was absolutely sure that Marti was fully asleep, she stood up and left the room, closing the door gently behind her. She started making her way towards the stairs when she noticed that computer screen was still on in Derek's room, casting a blueish glow across the floor. She sighed and made her way into his bedroom, heading instantly towards the computer desk. She reached for the mouse to go and turn off the computer when something on Derek's desk caught her eye. Frowning slightly, she flicked the lamp on and sat down at the desk. She picked up the piece of paper and scanned it quickly. She felt her heart drop as she read the page's contents.

It was a flight schedule, clearly one that had been printed off of an airport website, seeing as it had logos and ads pasted across the side of the page. Casey studied it carefully, noting that there were twelve times listed for departures. She didn't know what to think of it until her eyes fell upon the fifth slot.

_'Alberta' _it read; _'Flight 209 23h05.'_

Casey thought hard. 23h05. That was five after eleven at night. Meaning that that particular flight had already taken off. Had Derek been on it? She quickly turned to Derek's computer, relieved that the airport's website was still on the screen. She hit refresh on the page, praying for a miracle. Surprisingly, she got it. The flight to Alberta, originally for five after eleven, had been delayed until three in the morning. Casey bit her lip. If she hurried, she could get there in time to make sure that if Derek was planning on going anywhere, he wouldn't be able to. She quickly minimized the website she had been viewing and went to get up; but something else caught her eye.

There was an email that had been left open on screen. She glanced up to the top and noticed that it had already been sent at around seven thirty that evening. She glanced at the recipient's name and realized that the email had been to Meghan. She had a fleeting feeling that this could mean nothing good; but read on.

_'Meg, _

_It's all set. Be ready in a half an hour. I'm leaving soon. _

_-Derek'_

Scrolling up, she saw that this had been attached to the email, and that Meghan's reply was posted right above it, followed by one other.

_'Are you sure about this? What about your girlfriend? Didn't you two have plans tonight?' - Meghan_

The final reply from Derek was the actual message that had been sent, meaning that this had been the end of their conversation. Casey eagerly read the rest.

_'Don't be so stupid; of course I'm sure.' _it read, _'I'll be there at around eight, so you'd better be ready. And yes, I do have plans with Casey; thank you for reminding me, but right now, I really don't care about that at all. See you soon!' _

The emails ended there and Casey stared at the screen, in shock. She didn't even know where to start. Where were Derek and Meghan going, and why? She slapped herself mentally for forgetting that their destination was written clearly on the flight schedule. Alberta. But why the hell would they go to Alberta? Why were they going _anywhere_? And why had Derek told Meghan he didn't care about breaking plans with his own girlfriend. Frankly, that hurt, and Casey wasn't afraid to admit it.

Common sense kicked in and she realized that if she wanted to make it to the airport in time to keep Derek from going anywhere, she had to get a move on. She grabbed the flight schedule off of the desk and jumped up, not bothering to turn off the computer. She raced downstairs where everything was basically the same as when she left it. George was still pacing, Edwin was trying to calm Lizzie down, though it was apparant that he wasn't all that calm himself, and Nora was sitting on the arm of the chair, biting her lip thoughtfully. Casey landed on the bottom step and cleared her throat, causing everyone to look her way. She held up a flight schedule.

"Derek's gone." she said simply, trying to fight more tears back. Now wasn't the time for crying; it was time to focus on getting Derek home safely. George raised an eyebrow.

"We know Derek's gone." he said, almost angrily. "I think we gathered that over the past six hours that we spent looking for him."

"I meant gone as in _gone_." she emphasized. "As in far away."

"Casey, what are you talking about?" Nora asked calmly, before catching sight of the paper that she was holding up. "What's that you've got?"

Casey took a deep breath, knowing that her whole family was going to panic when she told them the truth. She summoned up all her strength and walked slowly towards the living room.

"This is a flight schedule that I found printed off in Derek's bedroom." she said, as calmly as possible. Everyone remained silent as they waited for the worst to come. "The flight that Derek has circled as important is to Alberta; and it's set to leave in forty five minutes."

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**Voila; le chapter! Review! As I said, the chapters are completed, so I'm just waiting for reviews to post :) if I get enough I'll update again tonight:) **


	15. Airport

**You were generous with reviews, so here's another chapter. :) Review please!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**Chapter Fifteen: Airport**

There was instant uproar. The silence that had been enveloping the room for the past several minutes was suddenly broken; and the feeling of slight worry had changed instantly to raging panic.

"Why is Derek going to Alberta?"

"How the hell can Derek afford a plane ticket?"

"When I get my hands on that boy he's going to _wish _he were in Alberta."

"What are we going to do?"

Casey didn't know which questions or comments came from which family member; it had all happened so fast, though she was pretty sure that the third one had been spoken by her stepfather. She took a deep breath.

''The flight was originally scheduled to leave at five after eleven, but there was a delay and now it's leaving at three." she explained calmly. Everybody stared at her for a moment; as though they expected her to suddenly pull Derek from out behind her and yell 'April Fools!'. After a moment, the news finally started to sink in.

"Well come on then; why are we still sitting here?" Edwin asked angrily. "Let's get back in the van and go stop him!"

Nora and Casey were apparantly the only ones thinking logically anymore. Casey knew that they couldn't all go to the airport. Marti was in bed already, and nobody wanted to have to get her up again, meaning that somebody had to stay behind and watch her. Besides, it was getting awfully late for everybody to be going out again. Casey knew that her mother was thinking the exact same thing as she was. Nora gave her stepson a sympathetic look.

"Hold on, Edwin." she said kindly. "We've got a couple of things to figure out here."

"No, Nora. Edwin is absolutely right!" George argued, wringing his hands nervously. "We've got to get to the airport _right now _and make sure that my son doesn't go anywhere."

Nora gave her husband a piercing look, one that scorned him for defying her, and he instantly seemed to shrink back down a little. Nora turned back to Casey.

"Casey dear, does that schedule say which airport he's supposed to be at?" she asked rationally. Casey glanced down at the paper in her hands and scanned the top of the sheet. Looking back up, she nodded.

"The one in Toronto." she said.

"Well then a few of us need to get there as soon as possible." Nora said, finally compromising with her husband. George held out his hands for the keys to the van, his hands shaking with panic and fear.

"Hand me the keys. I'll go find him." he said, his voice wavering on every note . Nora studied him with concern and shook her head.

"You can't drive like this Georgie." she said reluctantly. "Look at you; you're shaking. You're so worked up that you're going to end up getting yourself into an accident."

"Nora I'm perfectly okay to be driving." he argued, but it was clear that he had absolutely no fight left in him. He sighed, clearly defeated. "Fine." he said reluctantly. "But then who is going to go to the airport; you?"

Nora looked thoughtful for a moment, as though thinking the idea through in her head. Everybody watched her anxiously, all of them just wanting _somebody _to go and find Derek before he was gone. Finally, Casey snapped. She couldn't just stand here doing absolutely nothing when Derek could possibly be on his way to another province.

"I'll go." she offered, praying that nobody would try and stop her. Lizzie and Edwin didn't seem too surprised by this and surprisingly, neither did Nora. George, however, shot her a suspicious look.

"You're actually offering to go and find Derek?" he asked in disbelief. He turned to Nora. "This is a joke, right?"

Nora didn't tear her gaze away from Casey. She gave her daughter a searching look. Casey wanted to look away, but she found that she couldn't. Her mother had never given her this look before; but Casey couldn't figure out if it was good or bad. All she knew was that, in that moment, she was almost entirely sure that her mother knew just what was going on. Not the whole ugly story, of course; but Casey knew that a general idea of what was going on between Casey and Derek had finally settled into her mind. She was half afraid that her mother would bring that up right then and there, but finally, Nora nodded and handed her eldest daughter the keys.

"Go and find him, Casey." she said gently. Casey stared at the keys in her hand, and then looked back up at her mother, who gave her the tiniest of nods to indiciate that she wanted Casey to go ahead. George stared from his wife to his stepdaughter in awe.

"Nora, you aren't actually going to let her drive the car all by herself at two thirty in the morning, are you?" he asked, shocked. Nora glared at him and he seemed to calm down a little bit. "I'm just saying that allowing a seventeen year old girl to drive a car in the middle of the night isn't exactly the best idea."

"Casey is a responsible girl, George." she tried to reason with him. "She's never gotten into an accident before, and she won't now." Nora turned back to Casey and smiled. "Go on sweetheart. Drive safely. Call us when you know something."

Casey nodded, and looked towards George, who sighed and gave a defeated sort of sigh. He nodded towards the door.

"Go find him." he said, deciding that it was best to give up on this argument. Casey grabbed her coat off of the coat rack and darted out the door towards the van. She had thirty five minutes until that flight left, and if there was anything she could do about it, Derek wouldn't be on it.

- - - - -

Casey made it to the airport in record time. It only took her fourteen minutes to get from her house in London to the airport in Toronto. She parked the van hastily in the short term parking zone, before getting out and practically running into the airport. She groaned as she looked around the airport. It looked like Flight 209 wasn't the only one that had been delayed. Everywhere she looked, there was crowds of people walking around. Some were sitting down with laptops open on their laps, while others were trying to catch a half an hours sleep on the very uncomfortable chairs. Casey looked around desperately. How the hell was she supposed to find Derek in this mess? She could have him paged, she knew, but what good would that do? If Derek really was running off, he would know better than to respond to someone paging him over the intercom. She sighed and started scanning the seats, looking for the brown head of hair she was so used to seeing. She had scanned every row of seats there, but it was apparant that he was not sitting in any of the seats. She sighed and stared straight ahead.

And suddenly, without even trying, Casey spotted Derek. He was leaning up against a nearby wall, his hands stuffed into his pockets carelessly. His gaze was focused on the floor, at some point near his shoes. His hair fell down around his eyes, preventing him from seeing very much, but even if he could see, she got the feeling that he wouldn't have spotted her; she was too far away.

Deciding to try and figure out what he was up to, she crept towards Derek slowly. She had only taken a few steps when she seen Meghan emerge from a nearby doorway. Looking closely, Casey seen that it was a washroom that Derek had been standing next to all along, waiting for Meghan. He looked up and spotted his friend coming towards him. He offered her a tiny smile, barely noticeable, before pushing himself up off of the wall and putting his arm across her shoulders . Casey tensed at his actions and crept closer to the two of them, wanting to hear what they were saying.

Finally, she was close enough to see and hear what was going on.

"This is really hard." Meghan said, earning no response from her friend. "Derek are you sure that you-"

"Yes," he cut her off, staring at the ground again. "Trust me Meghan, this is what's best."

Meghan looked like she desperately wanted to argue with him, but she bit her lip and gave a reluctant nod. Casey could see that she wasn't the only one who thought Derek acted irrationally and impulsively sometimes.

"I hope you're right." she said with uncertainty shining through in her voice. She looked hesitant for a moment before speaking again. "You should at least call home, Derek." she said, having him tense up and remove his arm from her shoulders. "I bet your family is really worried about you."

Derek merely shrugged, not bothering to give a response. Casey felt herself grow angry at this. He could at least a_ct _like he cared that his family was miserable trying to figure out what had happened to him and where he had gone. She looked up and seen Meghan giving him a knowing look.

"I bet your girlfriend is worried sick about you." Meghan said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder lightly. Derek cringed at her words. Casey felt the tiniest bit of her anger fade away at the realization that he did seem to care that he was worrying her.

"You're hurting her again, Derek." Meghan continued. Derek's eyes closed for a brief moment, as though her words had stung him. When he opened them again, however, he seemed angry and bitter.

"You think I don't know that?" he snapped, cramming his hands into his jacket pockets again. A few nearby people stopped and stared, and he lowered his voice again. "I know that, alright Meg? And I don't like that; not at all, but there really isn't all that much that I can do to change that right now."

Meghan fell silent for a moment as though she was thinking. Derek turned towards her after a moment, a pained expression on his face.

"You were right," he said softly, reaching out and gripping her shoulder gently. "This is really hard."

Casey didn't know whether he was talking about what they were doing, or hurting her, but either way when she looked back she seen him pulling her into a tight hug. She felt jealousy flood through her as Meghan tangled her fingers through the hair on the back of his head, her eyes closed tightly. Casey was only beginning to accept how much Meghan was flirting with Derek when Meghan pulled back with her arms around Derek's neck. It all happened too fast for Casey to even acknowledge who had initiated it; but a moment later, Meghan's lips had brushed with Derek's softly, and she was wrapping her arms around him and pressing him against the wall.

Casey stared for a moment, her heart constricting tightly in her chest. Her jaw dropped, and all she could do was stare at the scene in front of her. All of the weeks she had spent assuming that Derek was cheating on her should have prepared her for something like this. But as she watched Meghan pull Derek closer against her, still not breaking the kiss, she had to turn away. She wasn't prepared for this; not at all. She would never be able to watch someone else kissing Derek and accept it. So she turned and walked away. If Derek wanted to be with Meghan that badly, she'd let him. He was a jerk for cheating on her; but through it all, she loved him. If Meghan could make him happy, she was going to have to step away from this relationship now.

She told herself that over and over as she drove home. But no matter how many times she repeated the words in her mind, the tears wouldn't stop.

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**Don't kill me yet . There's still another four chapters left :) Anyways, read and review, thanks! **


	16. Can't Take it Back

**I just had to repost this chapter, so sorry if some of you couldn't get into it. Anyway, here's the chapter. Lots of reviews on chapter 15 so thanks :) And ginger sweetness, to answer your question, I have no plans for a trilogy right now, mainly because I have no clue what it would be about. But there could be an epilogue, you never know :) So this chapter and the rest are sort of long, but that's okay I'm sure!**

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing. **

**Chapter Sixteen: Can't Take it Back**

Casey drove around London for a good two hours, not able to face the questions that her family would throw at her when she got home. She didn't know how she was supposed to explain that she had found Derek, and she had let him go. She knew she was going to get in trouble for that. Her mother and George had trusted her to find Derek and bring him home, and she had allowed him to leave. She reminded herself that it was for the best.

Finally, at around twenty to five in the morning, she knew she had better get home. George had been calling her cellphone non stop for about forty five minutes now, and she hadn't answered one of his calls. She had seen the effect that Derek's leaving had had on her family; she didn't want to cause that a second time. When she pulled into the driveway, Derek's car still wasn't there. The tiniest bit of hope that she had imagined it all died away. She knew it had been a stupid thought, but after her wish had taken effect, and reversed itself, she had kept a very open mind about what was possible and what wasn't.

She pulled into the driveway at five in the morning, shutting off the van and burying her face in her hands. She had no clue what she was going to tell the rest of the family; but it was better to face it now and get it over with. Storing the keys safely in her pocket, she climbed out of the van and made her way up the vaguely icy path to her front door. Opening it up, she saw that George and Edwin were the only ones still sitting in the living room. Their heads snapped up instantly to see which of the teenagers had just come back. Upon seeing Casey; a look of relief washed over George's face and he relaxed a bit.

"Casey, you had us so worried." he sighed, standing and rushing over to her. He pulled her into a brief hug, which Casey akwardly returned. George wasn't much of a hugging man; so she wasn't used to this sort of thing with him. Thankfully, he pulled away after a moment.

"You left three hours ago!" he exclaimed, as Edwin stood up from the couch and came a little bit closer, leaning casually against the arm of the chair. "What took you so long? The airport isn't _that _far away. Your mother was frantic. She thought you'd gotten into an accident."

"Where is she?" Casey asked, feeling guilty that she had worried her mother. She looked around but her mother and Lizzie were nowhere in sight. George gave a forced half smile and gave a quick nod in the direction of their bedroom.

"I made her go to bed." George told her. "She was so tired. It was hard to tear her away from the living room but she went anyway. Lizzie went to bed not too long after that."

Casey nodded, biting her lip. She looked up again, knowing what was coming next.

"So did you find Derek?" George asked eagerly, allowing hope to flicker across his face. Casey didn't answer at first, and some of his hope died away. "Casey, did you find him?"

Casey took a deep breath. She could lie and say that she hadn't made it there in time; but what good would that do? She was a terrible lie, and she always felt terrible afterwards. She knew that she had to tell the truth. She obviously wasn't going to tell him that Derek had been cheating on her, but she was just going to say that he was happier leaving.

"Well um .. here's the thing, George." she said akwardly, unsure of how to phrase what she knew she had to say. Her voice shook as she struggled for the right words. "This is sort of hard to say, but-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the front door opened up behind her, causing everybody's attention to wander to who had come in the doorway. Casey whipped around. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Derek coming in through the front door, brushing snowflakes from his hair. She couldn't breathe for a moment. He was back. He hadn't left after all. Despite everything that had happened, she felt relief flood through her with the knowledge that he was back. But after a moment she came to her senses, looking up just in time to see Derek glance up and notice the three of them staring at him in awe. A guilty look washed over his face, almost as though he had hoped everybody would have been in bed and nobody would have known he was even gone. He gave a guilty sort of smile.

"Uh, hey guys." he got out, his hand still fixed on the doorknob, the door hanging open pointlessly.

"Derek where the hell have you been?" Casey asked him before he had a chance to even close the door. Her tone expressed both relief and anger at the same time. He looked up at her with tired eyes, scratching the base of his neck absent mindedly. Casey wanted nothing more than to hit him for cheating on her right about now; but she knew that particular topic would have to wait until they were not within earshot of either of their parents.

"I uh .. went out." he replied simply, shrugging and stuffing a hand in his jeans pocket. "It was nowhere important."

"Nowhere important?" she repeated, quiet at first, but then she got louder. "You had this entire family worried _sick _for the past twenty four hours and you were _nowhere important_? That's not good enough Derek!"

"Casey-" he started, but his father cut him off angrily.

"No; Casey is absolutely right this time Derek." Geoge said, shaking with anger and left over panic. "This isn't good enough; not at all. This is completely out of line, even for you."

Derek looked away from everybody else, knowing that they were all right about this. What he had done had been going way too far; even by his usual 'wing it all' standards.

"We already know where you were all of this time, so you can just cut the crap Derek." Edwin said, earning himself a glare from his older brother. George opened his mouth to scold Edwin for his bad language, but decided against it; now wasn't the time for that. The next voice to be heard was Casey's.

"Why were you at the airport with Meghan?" she asked quietly, and Derek looked up to see tears filling her eyes. He shot her an apologetic look, as though trying to tell her that he would explain it to her in private, but she didn't register his hidden meaning. He looked away quickly, not willing to explain it in front of everybody else. This did absolutely nothing to ease Casey's pain and frustration. She fell silent, unable to think of anything else to say just yet.

"So where did you go?" Edwin asked bitterly. "Anywhere special?"

Edwin was very clearly on Casey's side here. It was easy to see that he felt sorry for his stepsister, and that he disagreed with his older brothers actions. Derek didn't even bother to get mad at Edwin for siding with Casey or for being snappy with him. He just shook his head shamefully and stared at the ground.

"I didn't go anywhere. I was never going anywhere." he said, sounding completely worn down. He rubbed his forehead roughly; as though he had the worlds largest headache. It was completely obvious that Derek would rather be anywhere but where he was at the moment.

But nobody else seemed to care whether or not Derek wanted to answer their questions or not. They needed the answers, and they intended on getting them before Derek went anywhere else.

"If you weren't planning on going anywhere, then why was there a flight schedule printed off and left on your desk?" Casey asked all of a sudden, remembering that she had some proof against Derek to prove where he had been over the past few hours. Derek winced and glanced at Casey nervously.

"I uh-"

"Here's a hint for you, Venturi." she said coldly, folding her arms across her chest angrily. "The next time you're trying to hide something, don't leave an email like that one you wrote to Meghan open on your computer screen for the world to see."

Derek's face darkened and his eyes met hers nervously.

"You read that?" he asked in a voice barely above a whisper. She glared at him and nodded, trying to hold back the tears that had been forming in her eyes a few moments before.

"Yeah Derek." she confirmed, nodding. "I read that. Every word."

"Casey, I-"

"How _could_ you?" she cut him off, finally letting her anger get the better of her. "How could you just _leave _, with her nonetheless, and not even _tell _me?"

"Casey, please."

"You were perfectly fine leaving me completely in the dark here." she snapped, her tears disappearing and being replaced by the bitter words that poured from her mouth. "You could have been _dead _for all we knew! We were looking for you for hours before I found the email and schedule in your room, Derek."

"Do you have any idea how _worried_ we have all been?" his father asked as Casey stopped to take a breath. "How could you have done something so stupid?"

"I don't regret it." Derek said quickly, suddenly looking up at the lot of them. His voice sounded oddly distant. Casey's eyes narrowed and; recognizing danger, he rushed on. "I don't regret what I did. I'm sorry that I ended up making you all worry about me but .. if I could do it over, I wouldn't do it differently."

With this, Casey snapped entirely, what little self control she had evaporating into thin air. She couldn't take anymore of his bullshit.

"You would do it again?" she yelled furiously. "You don't regret it do you? You don't regret having your whole family worried sick? You don't regret making us stay out all night looking for you? You don't regret the fact that your little sister cried herself to sleep at two am, wondering what the hell had happened to her brother?"

Derek tensed at this, hating that he had caused his baby sister so much pain and worry. She was just a little kid after all.

"I never meant to hurt you guys." Derek said shamefully. "I should have at least called. It was stupid of me not to; but I wasn't thinking at the time."

"Well that much is painfully clear." George agreed angrily. He would have continued, but Casey cut him off.

"What happened to being _honest _with each other?" Casey asked, choking over her own words. "Huh? What happened to that? Or was that just some bullshit you made up? I can't believe you did this. Dammit Derek, you're supposed to tell me these things, I'm your girlfriend for god sakes."

Casey stopped to draw in some much needed oxygen, not noticing that everyone in the room, Derek included, was now staring at her with a mix of shock and surprise. It took her a moment to realize what she had done, and what she had let slip in front of her stepfather. She groaned and rubbed her forehead with her hand, instantly feeling a headache coming on. She allowed herself to fall into the eerie silence that was enveloping the room like a blanket. Derek stood there with his hands in his pockets, skillfully avoiding everybody's gaze, while Edwin glanced back and forth between his father; to Casey; and then to Derek.

Finally, George found the courage to say something.

"What did you just say?" he asked, his voice shaking with disbelief. Nobody responded to his question, and he raised his voice in a stern tone. "Casey, you answer me this_ instant_. What did you just say to my son?"

Casey bit her lip and looked away, unwilling to answer any questions relating to hers and Derek's relationship.

"Derek?" George tried, sensing that his stepdaughter was going to remain silent in this situation. The truth seemed to dawn on him. If neither of the teenagers were willing to contradict what Casey had just said, then it must be true. He ran a hand through his hair and started pacing the room.

"This can't be happening." he said, talking more to himself than to anyone else. "Nora suspected this once before .. but I thought we agreed that the idea was ridiculous. How long has this been going on?"

"Five months." Derek answered in a monotone voice, watching as his father turned on the spot, shocked that someone had actually answered him. Before his father could ask another question, Derek held up a hand, stopping him.

"I'd appreciate it if we could hold off on the yelling until after." he said, almost begging. "I'm sure you'll want to wait for Nora anyway. I'm going up to my room; I need to get an hour of sleep."

George looked very much like he wanted to argue with his son and stay there to discusss the news that he had just discovered, but after a moment; he nodded, apparantly deciding that he was better off with his wife at his side for this particular conversation.

''Go on." he said, waving a hand dismissively towards his sons bedroom. "We'll discuss this later."

With that, Derek turned and made his way up the stairs as fast as possible. Casey watched as turned the corner at the top of the stairs and disappeared. A moment later they heard his bedroom door close and then; there was silence. Casey looked back at George nervously, afraid to even open her mouth to say anything.

"Look George, I know the last thing you want is me and Derek having alone time but I really need to talk to him." she said pleadingly, praying he would allow her to go upstairs with his son. George looked hesitant, and Casey rushed on. "I swear nothing is going to happen George, I just desperately need to talk to him. We really need to work things out and it would be great if you'd just let me do that."

George studied Casey for a moment, as though he couldn't make up his mind on whether or not he should allow it.

"Let her go upstairs." Edwin said, determined to have his siblings work things out. "I think you can see for yourself that they have some things to work out, and that there will be a lot of talking going on; nothing else."

George thought over what Edwin had said for a moment before giving a reluctant nod.

"Alright, go ahead." he said, scratching his head. "But when your mother gets up, we _will _be discussing this. I hope you both know that."

"Thank you, George." she said, a very small smile appearing on her face.

With that said, she turned and followed the path that Derek had taken moments before, not turning to give a second glance to the two people standing in the living room behind her.

She stopped outside Derek's bedroom door and took a deep breath, preparing herself for whatever was about to happen. She knocked twice, barely loud enough to be heard, but a moment later, she heard a faint;

"Come in."

Feeling inexplicably nervous, she pushed the door open and stepped inside, closing it behind her. She looked over to see Derek leaning against the windowsill, looking completely stressed out. He looked up to see who had just entered his bedroom. Upon seeing it was Casey, a mixture of fear and relief mixed over his face.

"Casey, hey." he said softly, offering her a half smile; which she did not return. The shadow of a smile that had been there a moment before disappeared instantly and he cringed. "You're mad at me aren't you?"

"Why don't you take a guess?" she said, but there was no trace of anger in her voice . She was too hurt to even bother putting up a fight. She ran a tired hand through her hair, her eyes closing briefly in frustration. Finally, she opened them up again and looked at Derek, who was watching her fearfully. "Derek, I need you to tell me what's going on here. Be honest with me; because honesty is all that is going to save our relationship now. You don't know how close I am to breaking up with you right now."

His eyes shot up instantly and met hers, fear flashing through them momentarily. He winced.

''Don't do that." he said quietly, almost begging. "Please don't do that."

"Give me a reason then!'' she cried loudly. "Give me one damn good reason why I shouldn't just break up with you here and now. I am so tempted to do it. I'm sick of this, Derek. I'm sick of the fighting, and the yelling, and the lies and deception. I'm sorry; but I've taken all that I can handle. I really want to be with you but I can't do that if our relationship stays like this."

"Like what?" he asked, sounding equally as frustrated as she was. "The only reason you're finding so many things wrong with our relationship is because you want to. You are so positive that theres something wrong with our relationship, and with me, that you spend every waking minute dwelling on the things that have gone wrong."

"Only because it's happening so often!" she cried, trying to get her point across. "Dammit, Derek, all we do is fight anymore."

"Correction, all _you _do is fight." he counteracted, taking a step forward. "The first few months were amazing, Casey, they really were. But it seems like the past few weeks, ever since Meghan came into the picture, you've been so damn determined that I'm doing something wrong."

"If you aren't doing anything wrong then explain to me why you were kissing Meghan." she demanded, allowing a tear to fall from her eyes. She brushed it away quickly and continued, her tone determined. "Don't lie to me and say it never happened Derek because I saw it."

Derek's face fell and he took another step forward, edging ever so slightly towards her. He took a deep breath. She half expected him to ask her how she had seen the kiss happen; but he didn't. He gripped her chin softly and tilted it up towards him. He saw the tears in her eyes and a pained expression crossed his features, almost as though he couldn't stand being the one to put the tears there in the first place.

"Don't cry." he said quietly, wiping away one of her tears with his thumb. "Please don't cry."

"I'll cry if I want to cry, Derek." Casey spat out, slapping his hand away from her face and drying her eyes quickly on the back of her hand. "Don't change the damn subject. Tell me why you were kissing Meghan. There's a lot I've been willing to tolerate with you, obviously, but you _cheating _on me isn't one of them."

He looked taken aback for a moment that she had pushed him away, but shrugged it off and stuffed his hands into his pocket, looking away quickly.

"I never cheated on you, Casey. If you had seen the whole thing, you would have known that she kissed me; and I pushed her away." he tried to tell her. She gave a cold, disbelieving laugh and he cringed.

"It didn't look like you were pushing her away from where I was standing, Derek." she said, pain flooding through her as she remembered standing there in the middle of the airport, feeling like the world's biggest idiot as she watched Meghan lean over and kiss Derek. She felt her heart give a painful lurch and she fought back more tears. His eyes scanned her apologetically and he sighed.

"Casey, I need you to believe me." he said urgently. "I _pushed her away_. I really did. It kills me to think that you can't believe that."

"How can you expect me to believe that Derek?" she yelled, taking a step towards him. He stepped back a bit but she continued to advance on him until he had backed himself right up against the wall. She poked his shoulder angrily. "All you've been doing to me this past month is lying to me about what's going on with you and Meghan. And that's not fair, Derek; not at all. We aren't supposed to keep secrets from each other."

Derek studied her long and hard; as though debating whether or not he should say what was on his mind. Finally, he came to his decision and he blew out a patient breath. He stepped forwards and reached out gently, his hand gently stroking her cheek. After a moment, he let both of his hands fall down to her's and he laced his fingers through hers. His eyes shot up to her's when she didn't pull away and he seemed to relax a little bit. He took a deep breath.

"You're right." he said, nodding in agreement. "This isn't fair. I shouldn't be keeping anything from you. And I think it's time I tell you everything. Sit down, it could take a while."

She stared at him for a moment; wondering whether or not she should do as he said. Despite how angry she was with him; she desperately wanted the truth. So she sat down on the bed, prepared to hear everything that she had been waiting to find out for what felt like forever. It was time for the truth.

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**Read and review! Some of you are going to kill me for leaving it there! Might post again today if I get enough reviews:) **


	17. Truth and Outbursts

**Alright so I had trouble posting this chapter because of the document manager, but I really wanted to get another chapter out for you guys today so I figured something out and managed to get it up here:) Yay! Here is the chapter! As you will see, you were all .. well half right. Sort of. Review and I might post more tonight. There's still a few chapters left. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything! Stop making me say it, I get it :( God. Harsh much?**

**Chapter Seventeen: Truth and Outbursts**

Derek was pacing back and forth in front of Casey, his hand running through his hair over and over again, as though he couldn't find the right words to say.

"Derek, are you going to say anything, or are you just going to pace back and forth in front of me?" she asked him impatiently, sighing. "Because if this is all your going to do, I'll save myself the boredom and go back to my own bedroom. Watching the wall is more interesting than this."

He stopped pacing and leaned back against the window sill, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He drew in a shaky breath. Casey couldn't tell if it was because he was nervous or because he was upset, but she didn't question it.

"Meghans gone." he said simply, looking her right in the eye. She raised her eyebrows at him, waiting for further explanation. "That's why I went to the airport. She's gone; her flight left this morning."

"Where did she go?" Casey asked, confused. "Didn't she just move here a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah; and that was a huge mistake." Derek said, giving a forced laugh. "Look, Casey; do you remember that day that I went to the mall with Meghan?"

Casey nodded, remembering how angry she had gotten with him over that.

"Do you remember how I told you I forgot to get my wallet back off of her?" Derek asked; causing her to nod again. "Well I called her house first and nobody answered. I would have put it off until Monday in school, but I needed the money from my wallet to pick you up those tickets, so I had to get it. I knew where she lived; so I drove by her house to pick it up. I rang the doorbell there but nobody answered. I knew that there had to be someone home because I saw the car in the driveway. So I went around to the side door; and it had been left open."

Casey bit her lip, not understanding where this was going. She gave a quick nod; urging him to continue. He drew in a deep breath before continuing.

"Well when I went inside, I heard Meghan and someone else, a man, talking down the hall. Actually, he was yelling." he corrected himself quietly. "Anyway, I found the room where the voices were coming from and saw that the door was open a bit so I sort of peeked through the crack and.."

''And what?" Casey urged him, annoyed that he had to stop his sentence at the most crucial point. "What did you see Derek? Tell me."

"Meghan's father hits her, Casey." he said quietly, cringing. "He's a heavy drinker and when he drinks too much; he loses control and lets all of his anger out on her."

Casey remained silent. She was having trouble processing what Derek had just said. So many of the things that she had seen or heard lately seemed to fit in with this theory; but then so many others didn't. She didn't totally believe him yet. She opened her mouth and voiced the first inconsistancy that came to mind.

"I've never seen any bruises." she said simply, trying to make sure that he wasn't lying to her. He didn't even have to think about it before he answered, leading her to believe that maybe, for once, he was telling her the truth.

"You've never seen bruises because she wears long sleeve shirts all of the time, Casey." he informed her, a sad smile on his face. "I don't know if you picked up on that one. Her father knows better than to hit her somewhere where people can see."

Casey thought back to every time she had seen Meghan. Now that she thought about it, everytime she had seen Meghan, the girl had been wearing a sweater or a long sleeved shirt. She hadn't taken much notice to it before, but now she knew why.

"So how did you get involved in this?" she asked curiously, crossing one leg over the other. She was willing to hear him out on everything; from Meghan's father's abuse, to the kiss that she had witnessed.

"I knocked on the door and when her father came out I pretended like I hadn't seen anything." he said, shrugging. He took a seat in his computer chair, knowing that this conversation may take a long time. "Meghan knew better of course; she knew that I had seen what happened. That's where I was all afternoon." he explained quietly. She blushed, remembering how angry she had been with him when he wouldn't tell her where he had been.

"Meghan explained everything to me that afternoon." he said. "Her and her mother and little sister lived in Toronto with her father until sometime last year." he began, taking a deep breath. "He wasn't abusive back then. Apparantly, Meghan and her sister had a really good relationship with their father. But then their parents divorced, and their mother took the girls and moved to Alberta."

"So that was where she was living until she came back?" Casey guessed, and Derek nodded.

"Yeah, she was in Alberta." he confirmed. "When she went to school up there, she was bullied alot. Apparantly, she was sort of like you."

Casey's eyes narrowed at Derek immediately and she glared at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked defensively. "Was that an insult?"

''No Casey, not at all." he assured her, and she could tell he was being honest. She relaxed again and fell silent. "Do you remember how you were when you came here? Do you remember what everyone called you?"

"Are we referring to my Klutzilla rep or my grade grubbing one?" Casey asked teasingly. He rolled his eyes.

"The last one." he said. "She was sort of like you in that sense. She was a teacher's pet and everybody made fun of her for it."

"She doesn't seem like the type-" Casey started, but was cut off by Derek.

"When she moved here, she changed so that the same thing wouldn't happen again." Derek explained. "Anyway, her mother let her move back with her father to avoid the teasing. In the year that she had been gone, her father had lost his job and moved to London. That was when he started drinking I guess. She wasn't used to her father being this way but he was. He'd get drunk and take every bit of his anger out on her. And last night, he did it again; only this time it was worse than usual and I told her that she was either turning her father in, or I was. She really didn't want to do either, so I told her that if we were going to stay quiet about her father, she was going back to Alberta. She didn't want to at first, but I told her if she didn't, I was reporting her father. I may have come off as a little bossy; but she won't defend herself because, despite everything her father has done, she loves him. It was either reporting her father or going back to her mother. She chose her mother."

Derek finished his explanation breathlessly, finally stopping to catch some air. When he had given Casey a few moments to digest everything that he had just said, and he had gotten some air, he spoke up again.

"When Meghan told me all of this, she made me swear not to tell anybody, which is why I never confided in you. She didn't want it getting around."

"You could have told me." Casey said quietly, feeling rather hurt. "I'm your girlfriend, Derek; I wouldn't have told anyone."

"She made me swear, Casey." he tried to tell her, sending her a pleading look. "Look, if it were you that had made me promise something; I would have done the same. A secret is a secret. If you had told me something like that, would you like it if I went off and told someone else after I promised not to?"

Casey thought about it for a moment. She realized that Derek was right about that. A secret was a secret, no matter who it was telling it. She gave a defeated shrug.

"I guess not." she admitted, sighing. "But Derek, this doesn't explain everything else. Like the kiss."

"I'll admit that she kissed me." Derek said shamefully, avoiding her gaze. ''But that's exactly what happened, baby I swear. _She _kissed _me ; _not the other way around. All those phone calls that we were making to each other were mainly me trying to get her to tell someone about her father's abuse; or her telling me about something else that her father had done. With all the time we spent together, she started to like me. I had no clue she even liked me until today."

Casey gave him a disapproving stare. "_Please_, Derek." she said, annoyed. "Even _I _knew that she liked you."

Derek watched her for a moment before giving a careless shrug.

"Okay, so maybe I had sort of guessed it, but I never imagined she'd actually act on her feelings. Maybe she wasn't thinking or something, but she kissed me, and apoligized immediately afterwards. She felt terrible because she knew I had a girlfriend. I know you hate Meghan, but I can promise you that she never once pressured me to leave you for her; even after she started liking me. She knows how crazy I am about you. And even if she _had _asked me to leave you for her, I wouldn't have done it Casey. I meant what I've been telling you all along. I don't like Meghan in that way. I want _you_, Casey. Not Meghan; _you_."

"Is that the truth?" she asked quietly, half afraid to believe what he was telling her. He nodded. "Do you promise?"

"I swear to you that what I just told you is the absolute truth." he said sternly. "No more secrets, Casey."

To Casey, that sounded like a very dismissive statement; but she wasn't willing to end their discussion yet. She still had a few things that she needed to sort out with him.

"This conversation isn't over yet." she reminded him, and he sighed.

"Of course it isn't." he grumbled, running his hand through his hair. "Dammit I need to get some sleep."

"You can sleep later.." she said irritably. "Right now we're talking. I need to ask you a few more questions."

Derek opened his mouth to argue, but then realized that they didn't need any more arguing going on. This conversation had to happen, and they'd both rather get it over with now instead of facing it later.

"Fine." he mumbled, sighing. "Continue."

"Alright." she said slowly, trying to remember what it was she had to ask him. She remembered and sat up a little straighter. "Okay so you may be a little mad about this but here goes. Do you remember the day you got into a fight with that guy, and you came home with a bruise?"

Derek opened his mouth and looked like he wanted to say something, but after a moment he had clamped it shut once more and fell silent. He nodded.

"At lunch that day, after I stormed out of the classroom, I overheard you guys talking." she said, noticing that Derek seemed to tense at this. She ignored it and rushed on. "And I heard you tell her that you .. you needed her, and that I was great but she was giving you something I never could."

He stiffened.

"What was that all about?" she asked him, half afraid of the answer. He remained silent. "Derek!"

"It didn't mean anything-" he tried, but she cut him off.

"Honesty, Derek, honesty!" she cried impatiently and he let out a low growl.

"God dammit, Casey." he muttered before waving a hand carelessly beside him. "Fine. What I meant by that was that I was helping her deal with her father's abuse, and she was helping me deal with what had gone on with my mother. We understood each other. She had a similar problem, and therefore she could relate to it better than you could; no offence. She thought it was best if I told my mother how I felt about the way she treats me. Meghan said that communication is key-"

"I agree." Casey said almost bitterly, but he continued as though he hadn't heard a thing.

"She thought that if I told my Mom how much she had hurt me, she might realize that it was wrong to belittle my achievements just because they weren't up to her standards and start to appreciate me as a son."

"And?" Casey asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did you talk to her about it?"

Derek nodded, but did not explain. She sighed impatiently.

"And how did that go?" she asked, though she thought that he should have known to answer it in the first place. He sighed.

"I never got into a fight that day, Casey. I lied to you .. again." he admitted quietly. She remained quiet, unsure of what he meant. "I went to talk to my mother, and she got mad at me for accusing her of being a bad parent. Anyway, she started yelling at me for it, and you know me; I don't just sit there and take that sort of abuse; I fought back. I yelled right back at her and she uh .. she hit me."

Casey remained totally silent, completely shocked by Derek's words. She was having trouble processing the fact that Derek's mother had done such a thing to him. Derek's mother had been to their house a few days after that bruise had appeared, meaning that she had already done it by the time Casey met her. She thought back to the night that they had been home by themselves. He had seemed so distracted that night. She had assumed then that it had something to do with Meghan; but now she could see that maybe it was because he was worried about his little brother and sister. She could distinctly remember him asking her multiple times when they would be home. She bit her lip and looked up at him. For the first time since she had met Derek, his eyes were filled with a hurt that she had never seen as a result of talking about his mother. He always remained impassive and emotionless when he spoke of her. But now, he looked like a small child who wanted nothing more than to be loved.

"She really hit you?" Casey asked quietly, standing up and slowly making her way over to where he sat. She perched herself on the edge of his desk and looked down at him sadly. He nodded. "Derek why didn't you just tell me that before?"

"I was embarassed." he said with a shrug. Indeed, there was a red blush spreading across his cheeks rapidly. "I figured that by saying I got into a fight, it wouldn't make me seem like such a wimp."

"You're not a wimp, Derek." she assured him, placing a hand softly on his shoulder. "Your mother _hit _you. She's your god damn _mother_. She isn't supposed to do something like that. It's illegal." she trailed off, another thought occuring to her. "Has she done it before?"

Derek shook his head, and Casey felt relief spread through her quickly.

''This was the first time." he said quietly, biting his lip. He paused, before adding; "Didn't make it hurt any less. You know .. emotionally."

Casey knew that Derek was having a hard time admitting that his mother hitting him had actually hurt him emotionally; so she decided not to comment on it.

"Did you tell your Dad?" she asked, already knowing the answer. As predicted, he shook his head to indicate that he hadn't. "Derek, you really should."

"What difference would it make?" he muttered under his breath, scuffing his sneaker against his bedroom floor angrily. She softened and tilted his chin up towards her.

"What difference would it make?" she repeated, raising her eyebrows. "The difference, Derek, is that this time it was you that she hit. You're seventeen years old; you can protect yourself. You don't deserve it, but you can handle it a lot better than other people could. But what if next time it's Edwin or Marti that she hits? Do you think _they'd _be able to take it?"

Derek stiffened, his eyes flashing with anger and panic. Casey knew that she had just set off some sort of an alarm in his mind. She knew that he could be a very overprotective brother when he wanted to be. She rushed on, trying her best to convince him while she had his full attention.

"If you tell your father, he can get visitation rights revoked from your mother." Casey reminded him with a sad smile. "You can't take back what happened to you; but you can stop it from happening to the people you love. Edwin and Marti look up to you as an older brother. Don't let them down, Derek; tell your father the truth."

Derek looked like he was deep in thought for a moment. Casey could tell that he was thinking over every word that she had just said. Finally, he sighed and nodded, still looking a bit reluctant.

''Alright I'll tell my Dad." he said, taking a deep breath. "But not until after tonight. And I'm only doing it for Edwin and Marti. I'm their older brother; it's my job to protect them."

She gave him the best smile she could summon up. She knew that as of right now, their relationship was by no means okay, but at least she had convinced him into reporting his mother. It proved that he was listening to what she was saying at least. She took a deep breath and prepared to get back on track with their conversation.

"There's one thing I still don't understand." she said quietly, thinking hard. He did not look surprised by this as he motioned for her to go ahead and voice her question. She ran a hand through her hair nervously.

"Okay, so you've explained to me about why you and Meghan have been acting so secretive lately." she said, and he nodded. "But there is one more thing that's been bugging me since even before Meghan showed up." she finished, trying to keep her voice free from anger. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Alright then; what is it?" he asked.

"You've changed, Derek." she said quietly, looking up just in time to see his face fall with disappointment. This did not stop her from continuing. "You used to be this sweet and amazing guy who always knew just what to say to make me happy. And now you're just .."

"Just what?" he urged her, fear etched heavily across his features.

"You've turned into a bit of a jerk." she finished sadly, looking up to see the hurt flicker across his face. He dropped his gaze and focused hard on the ground, almost as though he was willing himself not to cry. She half expected him to get angry with her for saying such a thin, or to get up and leave. But he didn't do either of those things. This was one of the rare times since Casey had met Derek that she had seen him look completely defeated. He slumped his shoulders down in a sad sort of way and raised his gaze back up to meets hers. He gave her a desperate, searching look.

"I'm trying here, Casey; I really am." he said in a voice barely above a whisper; one that was laced with hurt and disappointment. "I'm sorry if I'm not enough for you; or if I don't meet some standards you clearly have set for me, but I am who I am, and I thought that you could respect me for that. I guess I was wrong though huh?"

"But Derek,you used to be-"

"-not all that different than I am right now." he finished for her. "I can admit that I have been a bit of a jerk to you lately, but half the time, it was intentional. And do you want to know why I did that?"

Casey nodded her head, half frightened by the anger that was shining through in his voice as he spoke to her. He stood up and, because she was sitting on his desk, he seemed to tower over her. He glared at her.

"Because I am _sick and tired _if trying and getting _absolutely nowhere _with you, Casey!" he yelled at her, causing her to lean backwards a bit. He took a step towards her. "For the longest time, I would try _so _damn hard to impress you; but no matter what I did it was _never _enough for you. _Never_!"

Casey's eyes were wide as she stared up at her boyfriend in shock, amazed by his words. Derek was never one to yell at her; but he was certainly making up for it now. He was expressing more anger now than he had in the whole five months that they had been together. Derek continued, his voice growing angrier with every word he spoke.

"Eventually I got it through my _apparantly _thick skull that _nothing _I did would ever be enough for you." he snapped bitterly. "You expected me to be a jerk; so I acted like one. I stopped trying, Casey! Do you know how fucking hard it was for me to change into the guy you used to like? Dammit, Casey, I changed so much for you when we started going out. I was a player, meaning that I went from having twenty girlfriends to having one. I had to stop being as insulting around you. I had to stop flirting with other girls. And you know what? It was pretty damn hard to just change my whole lifestyle just like that, but I reminded myself that it was worth it; that in the end, I'd be getting you."

"You _do _have me, Derek." she said, still trying to process everything he had just said to her. She had no idea he'd felt that way about their relationship. He gave a cold laugh.

"If this is the way we're going to be then maybe I don't even want you anymore." he snapped, not noticing the hurt look that spread across her face. "I clearly don't mean a damn thing to you so that's fine. Give it a day or two and I'll have a new girl to replace you and you won't mean a thing to me either."

The second the words left his mouth he froze and looked down at her tear filled eyes.

"Shit." he murmered, covering his face with his hands. "Dammit, Casey I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I never meant to say that; I swear I never."

"No, Derek." she said, her voice wavering with unshed tears. "I think you did."

"I swear I never." he tried to tell her, shaking fearfully. "It just .. slipped out. I wasn't thinking."

''Get away from me." she stammered, stumbling backwards and hitting the desk. He reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her close to him and hugging her against his chest.

"I'm sorry, baby." he tried again, but she wasn't going to do this again. Giving into him one more time would mean just having to face it again, and she couldn't take anymore of this. She pressed her hands against his chest and succeeded in pushing him away from her. He stood there, shaking, as she walked backwards towards the door.

''Go to hell, Derek." she said quite calmly, before turning and storming out of Derek's bedroom. She heard a distinct cry of 'Casey, wait!' but she ignored it and made her way into her own room. She drowned out the knocking on her door by turning her CD player on blast and stuffing the pillow over her head. She wasn't sure when he left, or when she stopped crying long enough to turn off her music. All she knew was that when she fell asleep, the knocking had stopped, and everything had turned quiet. She was almost certain that she could hear him pacing around in his room but at this point, she really didn't care anymore.

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**And, the truth!! Review, my friends, and maybe I will post more tonight:) There's up to nineteen chapters and I'm still deciding on whether I should summarize the conversation with their parents in an epilogue, or if I should add another chapter before the epilogue with it. I don't know yet, what would you guys want? Because I can easily change the epilogue to make a chapter twenty before it. Anyway, review.**


	18. Notes and Parks

**Some of you mentioned that you had a hard time reviewing last chapter. I was having a hard time with that too, so I understand. If you did have a comment about the last chapter, just post it along with a review for this chapter or go back and post it seperately hehe :) Thank you:) Anyway as you all voted for me to write to chapter twenty and then post the epilogue, I've revised the epilogue and created a chapter twenty to include the talk with the parents. I notice that some of you have started to feel some sympathy towards Derek as well, which, of course, is what was intended :) :) So yay! Anyway, here is the chapter ! Please review! There's only two chapters after this, and then the epilogue! **

**Disclaimer: I'll say it once more. I do not own LWD, or anything else that I may mention!**

**Chapter Eighteen: Notes and Parks**

When Casey woke up, she could instantly tell that it was night-time, meaning that she had been asleep for several hours. She took a moment to remember why she had been asleep in the first place, and that was when it all came flooding back to her. The fight with Derek, him telling her that she didn't mean a thing to him, and then begging her to forgive him. His words had stung, there was no denying that. That had been a low blow, even for him. But somehow she had to believe that he had been telling the truth when he said that he didn't mean it. Even she said things that she didn't mean when she got angry, and he had seemed genuinely upset when she had ran off. She couldn't be sure how long he had stayed outside her bedroom door trying to get her to talk to him, but she was almost certain that it had been over a half an hour.

She wasn't sure which she was dreading more; facing Derek, or facing their parents. Facing her mother and George would mean having to answer the endless questions that they would no doubt have for the two of them, but facing Derek had a fine possibility of leading to another argument.

Knowing that she had to get up sometime, she yawned and sat up, stretching. There was no blankets spread over her, and she was still dressed in the same clothes that she had been wearing that day. She got up and checked the mirror briefly, trying to make sure that she looked half presentable, before she opened her bedroom door.

She poked her head into Derek's room, seeing as the door was open, but there was no sign of Derek. Figuring that he must be downstairs, she made her way down into the living room, where Edwin and Lizzie were currently engrossed in an intense game of Babe Raider. Stopping at the foot of the stairs, she spoke up .

"Edwin? Lizzie?"

"Take that!" Lizzie cried, apparantly having not heard her sisters voice behind her. Edwin too, appeared to be either ignoring her, or else deaf to her voice.

"You guys?" Casey tried again. "Can one of you answer me?"

"Oh sorry." Lizzie said, not taking her eyes away from the screen. "What is it, Case?"

"Have either of you seen Derek?" she asked as Lizzie's score jumped way ahead of Edwin's. "I fell asleep and he's not in his room."

Edwin and Lizzie made no recognition of having heard her explanation; they just seemed to know that she had asked for Derek. Edwin was the one to answer, his eyes glued to the screen the entire time.

"He went out about a half an hour ago." Edwin said , then gave a jerk of the head towards the kitchen. "He left you a note. It's in on top of the microwave. He said to make sure you got it when you woke up."

Casey didn't let her stepbrother get another word out. Silently, she rushed into the kitchen, scurrying urgently to the microwave and snatching the folded up piece of paper from the top of the microwave. She wondered vaguely if Edwin or Lizzie had read the note, since it wasn't in an envelope, and they were awful nosy when it came to their research. Then she remembered how interested they were in their game and figured she was lucky that Edwin had even remembered there _was _a note.

Unfolding it, she saw Derek's somewhat neat handwriting scrawled across three quarters of the page in black ink. She backed up and took a seat on the nearest stool, flattening the letter out on the counter in front of her. Putting her chin in her hand, she began to read.

_Casey,_

_I had to go out for a while. I need some time to .. I don't know; clear my head or something. That fight we had earlier really got to me, and being in the house alone with my thoughts wasn't helping at all. I don't know what time I'll be back. ( I will be back this time; I'm not running off, trust me. ) Cover for me if Dad or Nora asks where I am. They went out for a little while, but they'll be back soon. They didn't mention anything around me; but I think they're pretty pissed with us. They say we're having a talk later; all four of us._

_Anyway Case, the real reason I'm writing this is because I want to let you know my honest opinion on everything that's been going on with us lately; all of it. I'd try to tell you in person but it seems that when I try and talk to you , my words get mixed up and we end up fighting even more. Casey, I honestly didn't mean what I said to you earlier; I can only pray that you know that. I don't think I could ever fully express how much you mean to me, and how important you are to me. You've had such a huge impact on my life, even before we were together. Please, don't doubt how much I care about you. You're the most beautiful, talented, intelligent and amazing girl I know. You're special to me, and I value our relationship over everything else in my life. I never, ever, had a romantic feeling for Meghan. She is a really great friend, and nothing more. I feel no attraction to her. It was always just you. I know I've been neglecting you for the past few weeks and basically screwing over our relationship, and if there's one thing I regret, that would be it; no competition. I can only say I'm sorry so many times. But do you want to know something, Casey? She kissed me, and do you know what I felt? Absolutely nothing. You, on the other hand, can make me feel like I'm in heaven with just a kiss on the cheek. That's what you do to me. That's why I know we're perfect for each other. I've never told you that before; but it's true._

_But as much as I mean everything I just wrote, the past few weeks have been really annoying, and ; despite what you may think, really tough on me. You might get mad at me for saying this, but there were many nights when I'd sit in my room, and contemplate whether or not you even really wanted to be with me. I just feel like I'm never enough for you anymore, Casey. In the beginning it was great. You were completely amazing and; don't get me wrong, you still are. But you've changed. Or maybe I've changed. I don't really know which it is but either way, it's like no matter how hard I try, I'm never enough. I want to be able to give you everything you want, and maybe it's high time I accept that I can't do that. I don't try and express too much emotion, you know me, but I've got to say this now ; it's been really hard on me, dealing with all of this criticism on everything I try to do for you. I want to be perfect for you, Casey, but maybe I never will be._

_What I'm basically trying to say, if you haven't already guessed, is that I really don't know where our relationship is going anymore, Casey. Maybe it's not going anywhere and; if that's the case, maybe there is no point in even _having _a relationship. It kills me to say it but I think it's true. I'm not saying anything for sure. I need some time to think. _

_I'm sorry._

_-Derek_

Casey read the letter over twice, staring at it in disbelief. Had Derek just broken up with her? Had she just lost her boyfriend for good? Her eyes immediately snapped back down to the paper and she read over the last few lines again.

_'I'm not saying anything for sure. I need some time to think.'_

It wasn't too late. She could save their relationship with a little bit of explaining, she knew it. All she had to do was talk to him, tell him that he was wrong, that he was more than enough for her, and that he meant the world to her. It killed her to think that she'd made him feel as though he wasn't good enough for her. She hadn't realized that she'd been doing it; but she realized now that maybe she had been all along. Her mind floated back to all of the times she'd pushed Derek's sweet moments aside because she'd been mad at him for doing something idiotic, something that the Derek from her wish wouldn't have done.

She had to find Derek. Once she found him she could get this whole mess sorted out and she could assure him that their relationship was fine; that _they _were She had a strong feeling that if she didn't talk to him about this, he'd break up with her. And quite honestly, she couldn't blame him for it.

Grabbing her coat off of the coat rack, she called out to Edwin and Lizzie that she was going out, and darted outside into the cold winter air.

- - - - -

Casey was running out of places to check. So far, she'd checked around their school, Sam's house, the ice rink, the park where they always went on walks together, and the café. She couldn't find Derek. She'd tried calling his cellphone several times but he had turned it off. She felt like she was going to collapse; she was so tired from running around London all night looking for Derek ( again ). It had been over two hours since she'd left home, meaning that it was probably around ten thirty, but she was too preoccupied to check. She felt like breaking down right then and there and crying. How had things gotten this terrible? It had all started small, with the times that Derek would forget to meet her at her locker, or he would ignore her when his friends were around; and it had somehow escalated to _this_. The relationship that had once been so perfect was now in shambles, and she wasn't even sure if she could fix it. She wasn't even sure if Derek _wanted _to fix it. Somehow, she wouldn't blame him if he didn't want to stay with her. How could she have been so clueless? Had she really made Derek feel like he wasn't enough for her? She hadn't meant to; that was for sure, but maybe, admist the arguing and the lies, she had hurt him just as much as he had hurt her. She didn't want to believe it, but she was starting to think that maybe it was true.

She thought this over as she headed towards the one place that she hadn't checked yet. It was a playground that Derek had often gone to as a child; one that they often took Marti to. It was freezing cold out, and she had to wrap her arms around herself to keep her jacket together, as the wind was blowing the flaps around. She kept her head bowed against the wind, but as she stepped onto the gravel of the playground, the wind died down a bit with the trees hanging over the playground. She looked up, seeing the snow covered leaves that stood out against the dark night sky and shuddered.

Prying her eyes away from the sky, she looked around the park. It looked sort of spooky in the nighttime, especially since there was a light layer of fresh snow dusting everything, making it seem slightly abandoned. The park was totally deserted, except for a lonely teenage boy who was sitting on the swing, back on to Casey, with his head hung low, one bare hand clutching the chain gently. She approached him slowly, as not to frighten him, and took a seat next in the swing next to him. She didn't say a word; she merely rested her head against the icy chain. She sat there for a good minute and a half, not sure if Derek was even aware of her presence; but she didn't want to speak just yet. Maybe it was because she wasn't quite sure what she was going to say. She rather felt that she should have taken advantage of the past two hours that she had spent looking for Derek, and thought of at least two words to say to him.

As she struggled to think of something to say, Derek's voice broke the eerie silence.

"This place always helps me think." he said, his voice sounding twenty times louder than it really was, due to the silence that had been enveloping them for the past few minutes. "That's why I like coming here in the night time. There's usually no one here."

She wasn't sure whether she should interpret that as an innocent comment or as a hint for her to leave. Just in case, she muttered a quick;

"Sorry."

"Don't be." he said, still not turning to look at her. "Did you get my note?"

"Yeah .. yeah I did." she said quietly. "Derek, why didn't you tell me you felt that way? Why didn't you say anything before?"

Derek shrugged, scuffing his sneaker against the frozen ground lazily.

"I didn't want to make you feel bad." he said. "Or maybe I was just scared and I didn't want to admit it."

Casey studied him with confusion, unsure of what his words really meant.

"What do you mean?" she asked, not taking her eyes away from him; even though he wouldn't return her gaze. "What do you have to be scared of, Derek?"

Derek took a deep breath, and finally looked up at her. She could see his face; dimly lit by the street light that stood beyond the trees. She was shocked to see that he had clearly been crying. His eyes were a bit red, and she could almost make out the trace of tear stains plastered across his cheeks.

"I was scared that by pointing out that there was a problem in our relationship .. I'd be giving you a reason to leave me." he admitted in a voice barely above a whisper. "I was afraid that you hadn't noticed that there was a problem and .. if I pointed it out to you .. you'd rethink this and break up with me. And .. I've never really told you this before but you leaving me scares me more than anything. I don't know how I'd handle that, Case. I've never really dealt with having my heart broken before."

Casey was silent for a moment, unsure of what to say by this. The words that had just come out of Derek's mouth was probably the most emotional thing Derek had ever said about their relationship. He had never admitted that he was scared she would leave him. Life without their relationship had always scared her, but she had no clue that he needed the relationship just as much as she did.

"Derek, I'm sorry." she said as he looked away again. "I didn't know you were feeling any of that; I really didn't. If I had of known-"

"If you had of known what, Casey?" Derek suddenly said loudly, standing up but not moving towards her. He kept his hand clasped around the chain and he stood next to his swing, glaring at her. "What would you have done? Be honest here. If not with me, then at least with yourself. Do you honestly think you would have done anything about it? No. You would have added it to the invisible list of problems you clearly have with me. You'd say I was being overreactive. You'd yell at me for assuming the worst in you. All it would have been to you is another thing to hold against me."

Casey's jaw dropped in shock; half from Derek's sudden change in mood, and half from the fact that he expected any of that from her.

"Derek, I-"

"No, Casey!" he yelled at her, moving forwards and coming to a stop in front of her, shaking angrily. "I'm sick of this! I'm sick of competing with some fantasy of the perfect guy that you seem to have created for yourself. Because in case you haven't noticed, Casey, I'm _not perfect. _I never have been, and maybe I never will be. But I thought you could accept that. I thought you liked me for who I am. But it's becoming clear to me that maybe I overestimated you. Maybe you're a lot shallower than I thought you were. And I can't deal with that anymore. I don't have to take this. I'm through with you."

With that said, he turned and began to walk away. He had barely gotten a meter away when Casey reached out and grabbed the back of his jacket, trying to pull him back towards her. Her grip on his jacket slipped and he continued to walk away.

"Derek!" she called out, making her last ditch attempt to get his attention. ''Derek, please wait."

He stopped in his tracks, willing to listen, but he did not turn around.

Casey took a shaky breath, knowing that what she was about to say could make or break their relationship. But she really didn't care if her words didn't change anything. Not anymore. She just knew that she had to tell him either way. He had to know. Closing her eyes and trying to summon up all of her courage, she spoke up, in a voice that was barely heard over the howl of the wind around them.

"I love you, Derek."

* * *

**Oh la la, a confession! Hehe. Anyway, review and I will post much quicker :) : )**


	19. Confessions and Closure

**This was originally intended to be the last chapter, but I ended up writing chapter twenty after all, so there is one more after this. Anyway, thank you for the feedback on the last chapter, and generally the rest of the story too :) Read and review, my friends :) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything; sad really. **

**Chapter Nineteen: Confessions and Closure**

Silence seemed to envelope the entire playground as Casey's words died away. Derek stood back on to her, his hair blowing in the wind. She couldn't see his face, so she couldn't quite see his reaction. She had no clue how he would react to her confession, but she was pretty sure that he didn't feel the same way. She waited nervously as Derek looked over her shoulder , disbelief etched into his features. She bit her lip and waited for him to say something to him.

"You .. you what?" he asked, still staring at her. She tried to control her shaky voice enough to respond, but her voice still came out nervous when she spoke.

"I said that I love you." she said, trying to muster up the courage to continue. "Derek, I've always loved you. I always thought that you must know that but I was afraid to say it out loud to you because I know that you don't really feel the same way-"

"Hold on a second." Derek said, walking towards her slowly with his hands in his jacket pocket. He raised an eyebrow. "What gave you the idea that I don't love you back?"

Casey was silent for a moment, letting the wind blow her hair back off of her face, trying to think of something to say to that. She couldn't think of a very good answer, so she settled for;

"I just assumed-"

"Yeah, I guess you did assume." Derek agreed, not yelling anymore although his tone was still laced with bitterness. "That's a really bad habit of yours, Casey and; once again, it has mislead you. I really do love you, Casey. I thought you always knew that but clearly you didn't. So I'll tell you now. You may drive me crazy half of the time and you may overanalyze things to an annoying extreme but I love you throughout it all. I have since the beginning. I thought you knew that."

Casey couldn't think of anything to say to this. Sure, she had obviously wondered how Derek would react if she were to ever actually tell him she loved him , but she had never expected this. She had assumed that he would tell her that he cared about her a lot, but he didn't love her. But here he was, claiming that her feelings for him were mirrored.

"Why didn't you ever say it then?" she asked as he stopped in front of her again.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why didn't you?"

It was a hypothetical question, and she knew not to answer. She bit her lip and looked away from him, somewhat ashamed of the fact that she had never bothered to tell him before now. When she gave it some thought, she began to remember the reasons why she hadn't wanted to tell him. He had never really given any real inidication or hint that he felt the same. Looking up again, she said;

"Derek, I don't want to get into another argument here but I've got to be honest with you."

He narrowed his eyes curiously, but motioned for her to continue. She took a deep breath.

"I know you're telling me now that you love me but .. I honestly never saw that in you before." she admitted, and she saw him tense up. "I've never seen you give any sort of sign that you loved me-"

"I haven't given you signs?" he cried angrily. He gave a harsh laugh. "Casey, this is getting so damn ridiculous. I gave you plenty of signs, you just chose not to notice them. I don't think there was a day that went by that I forgot to tell you how much you meant to me, or else complimented you in some way. I've lied to our family for months just to stay with you. I've taken on a fake girlfriend and I allowed my best friend to act as your boyfriend. I sat there and watched Sam kiss you once; just so our parents wouldn't get suspicious of what was really going on. If I notice that you're upset, I try and make you feel better. I know there have been times that I have ignored you when you're upset, and I know there have been times that I've acted like a complete idiot to you but I'm a guy, Casey. We're not the most observant of creatures. And I'm no different. I've sacrificed a lot for us to be together, and I've been changing. It kills me that you haven't even noticed how hard I try to impress you."

Derek was yelling now, and all Casey could do was stare at him in awe.

"You know why you never noticed any of this, Casey?" he said, his whole body shaking with anger. She shook her head. "You never notice any of the sweet things I do for you because you're too busy dwelling on my mistakes and my flaws. You know what, Casey? You act like my _mother! _And that's not a good thing. I don't get along with my mother because she does the same thing as you. She doesn't count someone's accomplishments because she's too busy criticizing them for their mistakes. And that's _all you do_!"

Casey's mind floated back to the conversation she had had with Derek only a few days before.

_'She's got some stubborn idea of perfection in her head, and I'm not it.' _he had said about his mother. She remembered how she had been certain that there was something else in his voice as he spoke, something that she couldn't pinpoint at the time. Now she knew what that had been about. He had been comparing her to his mother at the time; and he had pointed out another common trait between them without her even knowing it. She watched as he caught his breath, and continued. His voice was no longer angry when he spoke up again; it was almost hurt.

"Just because I've never actually told you doesn't mean I don't love you, Casey. I _do_ love you. I just showed you in a different way. You were just too damn blind to see it." he said. She could have sworn that his voice was shaky with unshed tears. "Dammit Case, you don't know how thrilled I was the night you kissed me and told me that you liked me. I felt so damn proud of myself, because I thought that I'd finally gotten the girl of my dreams. I thought that I was finally enough for _somebody_. And what's more, that somebody was _you_. I couldn't believe that a girl like _you _had fallen for a guy like me. But I guess I was fooling myself, thinking that being myself would ever be enough for you. Who was I kidding, right?"

The silence rang through the air in the aftershock of Derek's words. Everything that he had just said seemed to ring through her ears over and over again; each time just as sharp and piercing as when he had actually spoken them. She wasn't like that was she? Was she that concentrated on the ways that Derek hurt her that she had been hurting him right back? She thought about all of the fights that they had gotten in because of Derek being an idiot. He had hurt her everytime they had one of those fights.

But then her mind travelled back to what always seemed to happen afterwards. She had never really noticed it before but he always did seem to do or say something sweet when he knew he'd been an idiot. And it was a rare occasion when she would forgive him right away. Had she hurt Derek just as much as he had hurt her? She looked up, her face filled with remorse.

"I'm .. I'm sorry." she choked out, trying to ignore the lump that was rising in the back of her throat. "I'm so sorry, Derek. I didn't realize-"

"How could you have realized anything outside of yourself?" Derek spat bitterly. "You were too caught up with being selfish."

There was a bitter silence in the air, but neither of them seemed to be willing to break it. After a minute or so however, Casey realized that Derek wasn't going to speak and that she had to say something if she wanted him to stay there, if she wanted to be able to fix things. She had just opened her mouth when Derek said something that she hadn't expected. She was surprised to hear that his voice was gentle when he spoke again.

"Who are you trying to compare me to here, Casey?" he whispered, looking her right in the eye. "Because if there is someone else you'd rather be with .. tell me now. I'm not going to stand in your way. As much as it would kill me to see you with someone else.. I don't want you to be with me if someone else could make you happier. I want you to be happy."

"Derek, there's nobody else." she assured him, shaking her head sadly. How could she explain that she was comparing him to himself, to a ghost of perfection that she had somehow spent two weeks with

"If there isn't anyone else then tell me why it seems like you're comparing me to someone else; someone better?" he asked, reaching out and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I just want the truth, Casey. I'm tired of being second best, and I'm tired of trying to compete with someone I know I can never be. I am who I am, Casey, and although there are lots of things I'm willing to change to be with you, my whole personality isn't one of them. I'm willing to change a few of the small things that piss you off. You know, I could try and remember to meet you on time, and stop ignoring you as much when my friends are around; but I'm not changing my whole personality to suit you. So answer me honestly; if not as my girlfriend then as my friend. Do you really, honestly want to be with me? Am I enough for you? Can I make you happy? Because all I want is for you to be happy. You deserve it; you really do. Don't lie to me .. just answer as honestly as you possibly can."

As Casey looked up at Derek, she saw how much he needed to be assured of their relationship and she could tell how much he wanted honesty from her. She gave it some real thought. _Was _Derek enough for her? Sure he could be an idiot sometimes but hadn't Sam been an idiot when they went out? Hadn't Max? Wasn't every guy; at some point, an idiot to their girlfriends? Even she hadn't been the best girlfriend imaginable lately. The more she thought about it , the more she realized and accepted that Derek may never be perfect. He may never stop making mistakes, but that was to be expected. Everyone made mistakes, even her. Hadn't she made one of the biggest mistakes of her life just a few months ago, when she had wished for her mothers second marriage to be non-exsistant? Maybe life wasn't supposed to be perfect. And maybe she had been screwing up her relationship all of her own accord. She had thought she was making things better when really, all she was doing was hurting herself, and even worse, she was hurting Derek. Wasn't she far better off with someone like Derek, rather than being with someone like Shane? Derek wasn't really an awful boyfriend, he had just made a mistake in lying to her. Everybody made mistakes. And she knew that she would be making a mistake if she let an amazing guy like him get away.

She looked up at him and brought a hand to his face. He flinched away for a moment, although she wasn't sure why, but he relaxed when she just cupped his face gently in her hand. He closed his eyes as he awaited her answer. She dropped both of her hands down and laced her fingers through his on each hand.

"You shouldn't have to change for anyone, especially someone who is supposed to love you for who you are." she said, finally admitting to herself and to Derek that she had been wrong. "And I don't want you to change. I thought I did but .. I like you just the way you are."

"You told me that before." he reminded her. She shot him a curious look. "That night in the park when we started going out. You told me that I was perfect, and that you never wanted me to change. That made me so happy, Casey; to think that I was enough for you. I felt so damn good about myself that day. But lately I've been feeling terrible about who I am. I figure if you don't like the person that I am anymore, maybe I've changed."

"You haven't changed, Derek." she assured him, rubbing little circles on his right wrist with her thumb. "And I don't want you to. You really are perfect; to me anyway. I was being an idiot. And I'm sorry for hurting you."

"Apology accepted." he said, showing no emotion in his voice.

"You're enough for me. I promise." she assured him, knowing that he wasn't quite convinced yet. "I'm going to change."

That got Derek's attention. His head snapped up instantly and he rushed to respond.

"No; I don't want you to change." he said quickly. "I like you just the way you are. I just don't want you to take me for granted like you have been doing, because I don't deserve that. I really don't."

"So do you forgive me?" she asked, smiling guiltily at him. He pulled his best thinking face as he dropped her hands and folded his arms across his chest.

"Well I don't know.." he said slowly, a smirk slowly creeping onto his face. "Maybe I shouldn't forgive you. You might just get the impression that you've got me completely whipped."

She smacked him lightly on the shoulder and went to pull her hand back, but he grabbed it in his own and used his grip on her to pull her against him. Before she could get a single word out, he had crashed his lips onto hers, his kiss telling her everything she needed to know. In that one kiss, he secured his feelings for her, he expressed his forgiveness, and he also managed to fill her with the usual sense of passion and desire. She pulled him closer, deepening the kiss as her hands clutched the collar of his inside shirt tightly. Everything around her was freezing cold, but she found herself suprisingly warm, and she had a feeling it had to do with being with Derek.

When he finally pulled back, he was out of breath. She could see each of his eyes darting back and forth between both of hers. Finally, he offered her a caring smile and wrapped his arms around her, his hands rubbing her back gently. She let her arms wrap around his neck and she buried her face into his shoulder, inhaling the wonderful scent that Derek always seemed to bring. Derek had closed his eyes and was just holding her there for a few moments, but he opened them again when she pulled back and grinned at him. He returned her grin and reached up, brushing a strand of loose hair off of her face, tucking it behind her ear.

"I love you." he told her, and she felt her heart soar with delight. "I can tell you that now, right?"

She nodded hastily, tears of happiness filling her eyes. She placed one hand behind his head and pressed her forehead against his, staring right into his eyes. They held so much love, and she knew now that all of his love was for her. It always had been. She had just been convinced otherwise. She was glad that she had been wrong.

"You can tell me that as often as you want, and I'll never get tired of hearing it." she laughed, giving him a quick peck on the lips. He looked at her expectantly, and she rolled her eyes. "Oh alright. I was going to say it anyway. I love you too."

"Yeah well you'd better." he reminded her, taking her hand in his and leading her slowly towards the trail again, where the wind was stronger than it had been underneath the trees. He pulled her closer to him as they walked along happily. "It's not too often I get emotional, so take advantage of it while it lasts. It'll be gone by tomorrow."

"You're such a jerk." she reminded him, rolling her eyes. He pouted, and she laughed. "But you're an awfully cute jerk, and you're _my _cute jerk."

"I'm a jerk, am I? You're going to pay for that one, MacDonald!" Derek laughed and; before she could protest he had picked her up bridal style and was running full speed towards a nearby snowbank. He slipped a couple of times on the ice ( but of course managed not to fall ) and Casey wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, yelling at him to stop.

"Derek, I swear to god! Put me down right now!" she cried, her eyes shut tight as he ran towards the pile of snow. Before she could get another word out, he had hurdled the both of them at the snowbank and he landed flat on his back, with her on top of him. Casey tried her best to glare at him, but she just ended up laughing. It was infectious. After a moment, he was laughing too.

When he finally stopped laughing and caught his breath, he looked up at her, grinning. He placed a hand behind her head and pulled her down to him, letting his lips brush against hers for just a second before pulling away, keeping his lips hovering teasingly over hers. She knew he expected her to want to kiss him after that tease kiss, and she leaned in as though she was about to. He smirked and waited expectantly. What he didn't expect was a fistful of snow in the face.

The next twenty minutes were occupied with fast paced snowball fighting. Derek was losing terribly, mainly because everytime Casey so much as flinched when a snowball hit her, he'd try to kiss it better, resulting in her getting a clear shot in. She took this to her advantage, and claimed that he'd hurt her every two seconds, just so that he would drop his gaurd for a few moments. As they fooled around, they allowed themselves to completely forget everything that had happened over the past few weeks, and all of the questions that would no doubt be facing them when they got back home. They just let themselves have fun. Finally, Derek collapsed into a nearby snowbank, pulling Casey down with him. She rested her head on his shoulder and he kissed her forehead roughly, both of them still trying to catch their breath.

"You know we've got to go back soon." she reminded him, glancing up to see him staring at the dark sky, where snowflakes were gently fluttering around. "It's almost twelve."

"I know."

"Our parents are going to be pissed."

"I know."

"They might try and seperate us."

The silence seemed to drag on for ages as she felt Derek's body stiffen against hers, her words worrying him just as much as they were worrying her.

"I know." he said, this time more quietly, with fear etched into his every word. He pulled her closer protectively. "But I won't let them."

He said it with so much determination that Casey had to believe him. She didn't exactly know how he was planning on stopping their parents from seperating them; but she was all for it, whatever it was.

"You promise?" she asked, watching as her breath came out in little puffs, visible in the cold winters air. He glanced down at her and smiled. She felt her heart warm. That smile did everything to her. It made her weak and dizzy and left her wanting more from him. And in situations like this one, it comforted her.

"I promise." he assured her, before pulling her up into a kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer in an attempt to warm herself up. Derek's hands were roaming up and down her back, and across her shoulders, unable to decide where they wanted to rest. She only broke apart when she heard someone clearing their throat impatiently a few feet away from them. She looked up to see an old woman walking along with an older looking man, probably her husband, shaking her head at the two of them.

"Kids." she said disapprovingly. "No respect for public places."

With that, she sauntered off, grumbling to her husband, who seemed like he couldn't care less about it. Derek glanced down at Casey, biting his lip to keep from laughing. When the woman turned the corner and was out of sight, neither of them could keep it in anymore. They burst into laughter, still holding onto each other and finding comfort in their newfound happiness. After they stopped laughing at the womans comments, Derek stood up brushed the snow off of him, shaking some of the cold white flakes from his hair. He took a deep breath and gave a brave smile.

"Ready to go home and face the music?" he asked, extending his hand out to her. She eyed his hand nervously. She wasn't too sure she wanted to go home and face the million and one questions that she was sure their parents would have for them, if they hadn't gotten the truth out of Edwin, Lizzie and Marti already. But she knew that they had to go back sometime; and it was better to get it done and over with.

"We're not going to let them tear us apart .. right?" she got out nervously, not taking his hand. Derek shook his head.

"Never." he assured her, the corners of his mouth turning up in a smile. She took his hand and he pulled her up against him, kissing her hand gently. "I promise."

She took a deep breath and gave a shaky smile.

"I'm ready." she said, tightening her grip on his hand. "I love you."

"Love you too." he said, then grimaced. "You see what you've done to me? You've turned me into some romantic sap."

She leaned in close to him, her lips hovering right over his teasingly. He bit his lip in anticipation, almost begging her to kiss him.

"Is that such a bad thing?" she whispered, before brushing her lips lightly against his. She didn't pull away, and he placed a hand behind her head, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. He dropped the hand that he had been holding onto for the past two minutes and let it rest lightly on her hip, the other still tangled with her hair. She pulled back after a moment and waited for the answer to her question.

"Maybe not." he said with a casual shrug. "Just don't expect it all the time. I've got a reputation to protect, haven't I?"

She raised an eyebrow at him and he smiled to show that he was only kidding around. She had a feeling that she would be seeing a lot more of this side of Derek from now on. He gave her one more quick kiss before dropping his hand down to where hers was, and entwining their fingers together. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Let's go home."

As they headed home, they had no clue what would await them when they got there. They didn't know how their parents were going to react to their freshly revealed relationship. They had no clue if they would be able to win the battle that could very likely break out between them and their parents; but they were willing to fight it as hard as they could. All they knew was that with or without their parents permission; they'd be together eventually. Because although neither one of them was perfect; they were learning how to accept that; and they were fine with it . Perfect or not, they made each other happy, and that was really all that mattered to either of them.

* * *

**Alright, so this chapter was fairly fluffy; at least in the end. These two have had it so hard the rest of the story, that they deserve a bit of fluff now, don't you think? They took so long to say it because honestly, in this story, and maybe in general, I couldn't see them coming out and admitting it to each other right away, especially because their relationship was so unstable the whole time; hence why it took them five months to admit it. But anyway, I'm a sucker for Dasey fluffiness, I've got to admit :) :) Review! One chapter and an epilogue left :) **


	20. Fighting for Freedom

**This is pretty long, but it _is _sort of an important chapter I guess, since it's the 'talk' with the parents. By the way, there's something I need to clear up . Everyone wants to know if Casey will ever let Derek know about the wish. I wanted to fit that into this, but it wasn't fitting right, so I purposely left it out. A few of you asked about a trilogy, but I don't think I'd have a good enough plot to create one; and it would probably turn out as just an endless drabble, lol. But since most of you _do _want to see Casey tell him, I'm going to just post a two shot follow up sort of thing based on that. Does that sound okay? And by the way, LunarEclipse360, I am not British, I assure you, but I do have a mean fake accent .. sort of, lol :) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything! **

**Chapter Twenty: Fighting for Freedom **

Although the walk back to their house would have normally only taken about fifteen minutes, Casey and Derek somehow managed to prolong it to a stretch of forty five minutes, by taking about a thousand detours, and walking as slow as they possibly could. Casey was a nervous wreck, and, however much Derek tried to comfort her and assure her that it would all be okay, it was easy to see that he too, was nervous about the unavoidable conversation that they must have with their parents.

Finally, they came to a stop on their front porch, where a dim light overhead was all that was making the other visible. It flicked a couple of times, and Casey glared at it. She hated the dark, and that stupid light wasn't doing anything to help it. She dropped Derek's hand long enough to rub her hands up and down her arms, in an attempt to warm up.

"Are you cold?" Derek asked her knowingly, rubbing his own hands together. She shrugged and ran a hand through her hair nervously.

"Sort of." she admitted, although they both knew that the cold wasn't exactly at the top of her mind right now. She frowned. "I'm really worried." she confessed.

Derek's face softened instantly and he reached out, taking her hand again. He brought it up to his face and kissed it gently.

"Don't be." he said. Casey gave him a knowing look and he sighed, his eyes closing briefly for a moment. "Okay, so maybe I'm sort of nervous about all of this too."

"What do you think they'll do?" Casey asked, sitting down on the step. Derek hesitated for a moment before taking a seat next to her. He linked his hands together in front of him and stared out at the street, as though it would hold some sort of answers for him. After a moment, he sighed.

"I honestly don't know." he admitted, sounding frustrated. "I mean it could go either way. They could freak out and try to break us apart, or they could be totally cool with it."

"We never know until we go in and face it." Casey pointed out, glancing over her shoulder at the front door. Through the window, she could see that the lights in the living room were still on, meaning that their parents were waiting up for them. She bit her lip in anticipation. "I guess it's easier said than done."

"I guess so." Derek agreed. They both fell silent, and Derek scooted closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders wordlessly. She leaned her head against his shoulder and they both sat there for a good ten minutes, not saying a word. They didn't have to. Just being there with each other was comforting enough for both of them. After a while, Casey glanced down at her watch and noticed that it was one am. She smiled softly. So much had happened in the past twenty four hours. She'd ran around London looking for Derek (twice), she had found the flight schedule, went to the airport and seen Meghan kiss Derek, accidently let slip about their relationship, fought with Derek, made up with Derek, and told him that she loved him, only to have him confess the same feelings. She'd had quite the busy day, but she knew that she still had one more thing to work out. And as much as she wanted to stay out there with Derek all night, she knew that it wouldn't be helping anything.

"Derek," she said, lifting her head up off his shoulder slowly.

"Mhm?" he asked, not turning to look at her. "What is it, Case?"

She placed a hand over his gently and turned it, lacing her fingers through his. Giving his hand a gentle squeeze, she said;

"We have to go inside."

He gave no sign that he had even heard her. Instead, he squinted at the pavement and turned his head the other way, looking down the street carelessly.

"Derek," she said again, placing her other hand on his elbow. "Come on, this isn't helping anything."

"Yeah well neither is going in and facing all the damn criticism and disgust they're going to throw at us." Derek said bitterly, with hurt flashing across his features. "I know just what they're going to say to us, Casey. They're going to call us immoral and wrong, they're going to say we're hormonally driven teenagers who have no idea what love really is, and then they're going to tell us that 'they're sorry, but this can't continue.' And then they'll try and seperate us."

"And you already said that you won't let them do that." she reminded him in a failed attempt to reassure him. "Dammit Derek_, I _won't let them do that either. After all of this fighting we've put up with lately, we deserve a bit of happiness. And I don't intend on letting our parents take that away from us just because they don't approve."

Derek thought over everything that she had just said, chewing on his bottom lip thoughtfully. She had to refrain from kissing him then; he just looked so cute when he was lost in thought. After a moment, he turned to her, a curious look on his face.

"So you're saying we're in this together?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She gave him a kind smile and nodded, squeezing his hand gently .

"All the way." she assured him, causing him to relax a bit. He processed what she had just said, before standing up and pulling her up with him. Taking a deep breath, he offered her the bravest smile he could summon up.

"I'm ready when you are." he told her. She smiled back at him and they headed towards the door together. Casey reached out with her free hand to turn the doorknob, but Derek placed his hand over hers, stopping her.

"Wait," he said, pushing her hand away from the doorknob, but keeping her other one locked tightly in his own. Using their entwined hands to pull her towards him, he stepped forwards, pressing her up against the door and running a hand down through her hair, his eyes scanning her face nervously. She never understood why she made him so nervous. Even as she was thinking this, her mind floated back to something the Derek from the wish had said to her, right after they'd started going out;

_"I really like you so .. I don't want to mess this up." _

She remembered the other things that he'd said to her at the time, about how she was his one of the few 'real' girlfriends that he'd ever had, and how she would need to be patient with him. She felt a twinge of guilt flood through her as she realized that she hadn't exactly been very patient with him after all. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Derek leaned in, pressing his lips to hers in a slow and gentle kiss. She loved how he always seemed to know the right times for these sorts of kisses; which was generally when she needed comforting or reassurance. And right now, she desperately needed both.

After a moment, he pulled back. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged.

"Before we go in there, I just want you to know that, no matter what they say or do .. I love you, Casey."

She felt her heart skip a beat as he said the words that she had been wanting him to say for months. He had already told her, of course, but the words still sounded absolutely amazing to her.She smiled and brushed her hand against his cheek.

"I love you too." she told him. Summoning up every ounce of willpower she had, she opened up the front door, resisting the urge to just turn around and run as far away from their house as possible. She knew that wasn't the answer, so she stepped into the house, pulling a reluctant Derek along behind her.

The second she stepped into the house, she spotted her mother and George sitting together on the couch, looking at the two of them with a mixture of relief and anger spread across their faces. Their eyes wandered down to where their children's hands were entwined together, and Casey could have sworn their eyes lingered there for a moment, almost as though they hadn't believed that this relationship was real until now.

"Oh, Casey." her mother said, standing up and rushing towards her. Casey held up a cautious hand towards her mother .

"Mom, whatever you're planning on doing, just remember-mmph," she said, cut off when her mother unexpectedly tackled her in a hug. Derek dropped her hand reluctantly , seeing as it was squished between Casey and her mother, and he took a step backwards, scratching his head akwardly. Nora hugged Casey tightly to her, nearly cutting off the poor girls breathing.

"Don't you ever run off like that again!" Nora said firmly to Casey, who was just surprised that her mother wasn't yelling at her about Derek.

"Mom, I can't breathe." Casey finally got out when she started turning red in the face from lack of oxygen. "Go attack Derek or something."

Realizing that her daughter was being honest, and was actually having difficulty with breathing, Nora released Casey and did just what the girl had said; headed straight towards her stepson.

"No, no, I'm fine, really." Derek said, his eyes going wide with fear. "Aw c'mon Nora, you know I don't do hugs and emotions and- geez!"

Derek, like Casey, didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence when Nora wrapped him in a hug. Derek shot Casey a menacing glare from over Nora's shoulder.

"Thanks, Case, thanks a lot." he grumbled sarcastically, his face scrunched up in discomfort. "Yeah, love you too Nora, but you know this whole hugging thing that you've got going on? Yeah, it's gotta stop."

Nora pulled away from Derek and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, her eyes darting back and forth between each of them. And then, the yelling started.

"_Two nights_!" she cried in frustration. "Two nights of running around and stressing out! If it's not one of you I have to be worried about it's the other. Honestly, I don't think I've ever been put through so much in a matter of two days! First Derek runs off, and then Casey, you run after him and don't show up for another three hours, and then we come home this afternoon to find the both of you gone. It's one o'clock in the morning. I think you two have some serious explaining to do."

Casey glanced over her shoulder at Derek, who was clearly not going to speak voluntarily. She sighed and turned back to her mother. She opened her mouth to say something, but George beat her to the punch.

"I think the two of them have something more important to explain to us than a broken curfew, Nora." he reminded her, raising an eyebrow at the teenagers. Nora looked like she was about to protest, but George held up a hand to prevent her from arguing. "We'll deal with what has happened in the past two nights afterwards, but right now I think they need to explain what they have been hiding for the past five months."

Nora hesitated for a moment, before nodding her head and motioning for Derek and Casey to take a seat on the couch. Casey immediately reached for Derek's hand, and he willingly took it, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She was afraid to see how their parents reacted to this, so she simply avoided looking at them. George stood up alongside Nora as the both of them looked down at their kids with clueless expressions on their faces.

"I don't even know how to begin." George said, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "Nora, you got anything?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Nora said, nodding her head. All three of them watched her expectantly, waiting for the questions to start. She looked back and forth from Derek to Casey, before perching herself on the edge of the coffee table so that she was at eye level with them both.

"How long ago did this start?" she asked curiously. Casey was about to tell her mother that they had already answered that question; but then she remembered that her mother hadn't been there for that.

"Five months ago." she answered. Nora didn't look the least bit surprised as she nodded her head, clearly searching for more questions.

"How did, I mean, why did .. who .."

"If you're asking how this started, you probably won't get much of an answer, because I don't even think we know how it happened." Derek said, glancing at Casey, who only then realized that what he was saying was true. She knew how it had happened of course; she had been the one who had lived through two weeks in an alternate universe, forcing her to come to terms with her real feelings for Derek. But of course, to Derek, the whole thing was still a bit confusing.

"Explain it as best as you can." George asked as calmly as possible. Casey looked to Derek, wanting to give him a chance to say something first. She was surprised when he took her up on the offer.

"Do you mean from the very beginning, or from when we started going out?"

George looked confused, and a bit worried at that statement, but he swallowed nervously and said;

"Tell it from the very beginning .. whatever that means."

Derek studied Casey for a moment as she leaned against his shoulder, prepared to listen to what his perspective of the story was. He took a deep breath and looked back up at his father.

"I don't really know when my feelings for Casey started," he began, dropping her hand and instead wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I mean I always thought she was really pretty and everything, even at the wedding, and I even admired her for her personality; though I never would have admitted it to anyone, even myself. But it wasn't anything more than respect and physical attraction at first."

It took Casey a moment to realize that she had never actually asked Derek about any of these things. She really had no idea about when he had started liking her and why. Suddenly, she was just as interested in hearing the story as George and her mother were. She started listening carefully as Derek continued with his explanation.

"As I said, I don't know when I started having feelings for Casey, but I do know that I only realized them that time when Casey was crying over her Dad's visit. I saw her crying and normally, it wouldn't bug me too much, if I wasn't around her anyway; but that night, it did, and I knew it was because I was the one who had made her cry. And I felt absolutely horrible about myself. And then, later on that night, when her Dad came back and I saw her smiling because of something that_ I _had done, I felt really good about myself. After that, I found myself doing a lot of little things, just to be the one to put that smile on her face again. You know, like the time I quit my job because the manager was being an asshole to Casey, or the time I helped her learn about football-"

"_Excuse _me?" Casey asked, raising an eyebrow scornfully. His eyes met hers and the corners of his mouth turned upwards in an amused smile, and he rolled his eyes.

"Alright, so I got a little sidetracked on that one." he admitted, clearly trying to stifle a laugh. "But it was sort of funny, and I didn't want you going out with Max anyway."

"Go on." George said, clearly trying to avoid an argument, but he was also listening intently to every word his son said, obviously interested. Derek allowed himself to take on a serious expression again as he continued.

"Alright so, after a while, I started realizing that I wasn't doing these things just to make her smile; and it wasn't to be a good stepbrother either, like I was trying to tell myself for so long." he continued, giving Casey a tiny smile. "I realized that I was doing these things because I liked her; and in more than a brotherly way too. Frankly though, that terrified me, so I stopped being nice and started acting like a jerk to her, to try and get rid of my feelings."

"But that didn't work?" George asked, his eyes lingering on the arm that was wrapped around Casey's shoulder. Derek glanced up at his father, raising an eyebrow.

"Obviously not." he said. George looked like he wanted to scold Derek for answering back in such a tone, but he dropped the subject. Derek looked back and forth between each of the adults. "As for Casey, I have no clue when she started liking me and why, because she never told me. All I know was that the night her and Max broke up, I said something hurtful to her, and she ran off. When I went to find her, she kissed me and told me that she liked me. I asked her out and we've been together ever since then."

From the moment that Derek had mentioned that they had been together since the same night that Casey and Max had broken up, Nora had been studying Casey suspiciously, and almost sadly. Derek only registered this when he stopped talking, but Casey had noticed it all along. Her gaze locked with her mother's, she frowned.

"Mom, why are you staring at me like that?" she asked, confused. Nora gave her daughter a searching look and glanced at Derek quickly. Allowing her gaze to return to her daughter, she spoke up.

"Casey, honey; I'm not implying anything here, so don't freak out on me; but are you sure that Derek wasn't just .. a rebound from Max?" she asked in a calm and patient voice. Out of the corner of her eye, Casey saw Derek's face fall, and she felt his body stiffen up with fear, almost as though the possibility had never occured to him before. He turned to look at her, awaiting her answer just as patiently as everyone else. Casey smiled confidently at her mother, and turned her head, looking Derek right in the eye. He seemed to relax under the look that she was giving him, but he still seemed a bit on edge. She knew she could put his mind at ease, because answering her mother's question required no thinking whatsoever.

"Derek was never a rebound from Max," she said confidently, smiling at him, her gaze still locked with his. "I meant what I said to him that night, when I told him that I had feelings for him."

She turned back to her mother, the smile still half alive on her face. "I love him, Mom." she said, taking note of the shocked expression on her mother's face. Casey knew that her mother had, so far, been more accepting of the situation than George had, but she was positive that she hadn't expected this. George was staring back and forth from Casey to Derek with disbelief written across his face.

"You _love _him?" George choked out, his eyes wide. "Define what you mean by 'love' , Casey."

"What she means, is that she loves me like Nora loves you, Dad." Derek answered for his girlfriend, before she even had a chance to think about her answer. He leaned forward, moving his arm away from Casey's shoulder, but taking her hand in his again. "And I love her just the same as you love Nora."

"Derek, I know that you're a pretty knowledgeable guy sometimes, but you need to trust me when I say that you're much too young to know the real meaning of love."

Derek shot Casey a look as if to say 'what did I tell you?' , before turning back to his father.

"Tell me something, Dad." he said as calmly as possible, his eyes focused on his father knowingly. "When you wake up, is Nora the first thing you think about? When you go to sleep, is she the last thing on your mind? Do you feel like you want to make every day the best day possible for her, just to see her happy? When you're away from her, are you just counting the seconds until you see her again?"

Everybody was silent as George stared at Derek blinked at Derek, completely stunned. He opened his mouth several times to try and respond to his son's questions, but nothing came out, and finally, he shut his mouth, turning away from his son and pacing back and forth the living room a couple of times. Derek leaned back against the couch again, letting his arm drape across Casey's shoulders once more.

"I rest my case." he whispered, just loud enough for Casey to hear. She placed a hand on his thigh as they waited for George to say something. After what seemed like an eternity, George turned around, his hand still tangled through his hair carelessly.

"How did you know all that, Derek?" George asked, still in shock. Derek offered him a shrug, glancing at Casey quickly.

"Call me sentimental all you want, and hell knows I'll probably _never _admit any of this to anyone again, but I know how you feel about Nora, because I feel the exact same way about Case." he explained, his voice showing no hesitancy or uncertainty whatsoever. "I love her, Dad. And quite honestly, I don't care _what _the hell you two do or say to us, because nothing can change the way I feel about her."

An eerie silence filled the room, but nobody wanted to break it. Nora had a small smile on her face, although nobody really knew why, and George was staring at his son as though he couldn't believe that his son was actually capable of loving somebody. Casey and Derek, however, were looking right at each other, some sort of unspoken understanding occuring between them. If there had been any doubts left in Casey's mind about how Derek really felt, they were gone now. She knew now that he was completely dedicated to her, and he always had been. She wanted to kiss him so badly, but she knew that it wasn't the best idea in front of their parents. Derek seemed to read her mind, because he leaned in and settled for a kiss on the cheek, his lips lingering on her cheek for just a moment longer than they normally would have. He trailed them up to her ear, leaning in close enough so that he could whisper to her.

"Don't worry," he told her, letting his hand run up and down her back soothingly. "Everything is going to work out for the best, I know it will."

"I hope you're right." she whispered back to him, taking in a nervous breath as her mother cleared her throat, indicating that she wanted to say something. They all looked at her expectantly, waiting to see what she had to say.

"George, I think we should let them be together." Nora said to her husband, her gaze still focused on the teenagers in front of her. George's jaw dropped as she rushed on. "Derek and Casey really do seem to have something strong going on here, and I don't want to be the one to tear that apart."

George's eyes widened, and he stared at his wife as though she'd gone crazy.

"Nora, you can't be serious!" he sputtered, his eyes darting back and forth between Nora and the teenagers qucikly. "They are two hormonally driven-"

"Stop saying that." Derek said angrily, glaring at his father. "You make it seem like I only want Casey for her body or something."

George raised an eyebrow at Derek pointedly, and Casey could see Derek's face darken considerably at his father's accusation. Casey gave him a look that was intended to calm him down. The last thing they needed was for an argument to break out. She looked up at George, trying to rid herself of any anger or fear that may have been showing in her eyes.

"Look, George." she started, deciding that it would be best if she answered for Derek for now. "I know that you think me and Derek are just doing this based on a physical attraction, but I can promise you that it's not like that. We have a _real _relationship. One that involves communication, emotions, and feelings. And if you care about us as much as you say you do, you won't be the one to end that."

"Casey, you can't just say something like that-" George started, but was cut off by his wife.

"George, I think she may be right." Nora said, smiling at her daughter proudly. "Look, you know how hard it is for Derek to stay in a serious relationship for more than a month. And Casey, she has a tendency of being a drama queen in a relationship-"

Derek snorted, clearly recalling the night's events. He pulled a serious expression the second that Casey turned and glared at him. Nora pretended like she hadn't noticed any of this, and continued.

"As I was saying, Casey has a tendency of being overdramatic in relationships, meaning that her relationships don't really last much longer than Derek's." she pointed out, as George's furrowed in curiousity. "The fact that they have managed to stay together for five months, without once breaking up, has to say something. I think they deserve a chance to prove that they are responsible, and that they can handle a relationship like this."

Casey's face lit up hopefully, and she could feel Derek shaking with anticipation next to her. George was staring at Nora, who was staring at Casey and Derek. Uncertainty and reluctance was printed all over George's face, and it was obvious that he wasn't warming up to the idea at all.

"They're happy, George." Nora pointed out, motioning towards them. "We're their parents. Who are we to take away something that could _keep_ them happy? What if this is the real thing?"

"What if it's not?" George argued, clearly running out of fight.

"If it's not, then at least they will have tried." Nora said with a shrug. "But if there's the slightest chance that it could be, I don't think we should interfere. I say we set a few rules and guidelines, and let them continue their relationship."

George was standing a few feet away from the couch, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, clearly thinking over Nora's words a thousand times in his mind. He was chewing on his bottom lip, looking anywhere but at his family. Casey and Derek nervously awaited his decision. Derek wrapped an arm around Casey's waist, gripping her side gently to let her know he was there for her. She placed her hand on his thigh, her eyes never leaving George's face.

Finally, the man threw his hands up in the air, letting out a frustrated cry.

"I don't care what you do anymore." he said, defeated. "I clearly can't stop you by myself, and it's quite clear that you won't stop of your own accord. So go on. Nora; lay down your so called rules, and you two had better follow them , or I may just rethink this decision."

Casey's eyes widened in surprise and she jolted forwards, jumping up and nearly knocking her stepfather over. She threw her arms around his neck and, despite the akwardness she always felt when she hugged the man, she rather felt that she had never held so much respect and appreciation for him in her life.

"Thank you, thank you, _thank you_, George!" she cried, swaying back and forth while he struggled to stay upright. Derek stood up, stuffing his hands in his pockets and trying to hide his more than obvious bliss over what his father had just said.

"Case, let the poor man breathe." Derek said, but no sooner had the words left his mouth than she had turned and tackled him, knocking him backwards onto the couch. He shifted so that she wasn't pressing him so far into the couch, but when he was comfortable, he wrapped his arms around her waist, just as content with the outcome of their problem as she was. He closed his eyes as she buried her face into his shoulder, half laughing, and half crying.

"We'll talk rules later." Nora said, motioning towards George for them to leave the room. Reluctantly, he did so, finding comfort in the fact that they were only being left alone in the living room, where nothing too heavy could really happen with everybody else home, or so he hoped. Casey still had a death hold on Derek's neck, and he placed his hands on her hips, shifting her forwards a bit so that she was sitting in his lap and he could look at her.

"Too much love, Case." he said with a smirk. She rolled her eyes, knowing that he wasn't one to display too much emotion. "I've definitly overexerted my emotional side for like, the next year."

Casey gave him a knowing smirk, running her hands through his hair and pressing a kiss to his forehead. He shuddered as she let her fingers trail from his hair, and down to his neck, raking along the base of it as she spoke.

"That's too bad then." she said, with a shrug. He studied her curiously, unsure of what she meant, and she dropped her voice to a whisper. "Because I've really got a thing for emotional guys."

Derek raised an eyebrow at her, and seemed to be contemplating something in his head. She knew that he was having some sort of internal battle with himself right now, one that he finally settled. He groaned and tilted his head back against the couch, closing his eyes tightly.

"Caseyyyy," he whined, clearly frustrated. "You can't just _do_ that."

She put on her best innocent look, linking her hands together behind his neck and watching him curiously.

"What did I do?" she asked, as though she didn't have a clue what was going on. He scowled at her, clearly not buying it, but she knew that she was getting to him. Finally, he pressed his forehead against her's and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. She laughed as he pulled back, their foreheads still connected. "You're so whipped." she commented, grinning at him. He looked like he wanted to argue with her, but he knew it was no use, and he shrugged, giving a defeated sort of sigh.

"Maybe just a little bit," he admitted, wearing a half smile. "But that never leaves this room, got it, Spacey?"

"Got it, _sweetheart._" she said, for the pure purpose of annoying the hell out of him. He glared at her, but she didn't give him a chance to fight back. Within a moment, she had wrapped her arms around his neck and attached her lips to his in a rather passionate kiss. He was never one to turn her away when she was like this, and as he found his arms wrap instinctively around her waist, he rather felt that he didn't care what the hell she called him, as long as it always followed a kiss like that one. .

* * *

**So there was the talk with the parents. I really don't see them as just accepting it right away, but if you didn't notice before, Nora already had a bit of an idea what was going on in previous chapters, and therefore had more time than George to think it over. Derek does get fairly defensive, but I really see him as saying things that he normally wouldn't admit to when something he wants or needs is threatened, in this fic, Casey. So there's a bit of fluff in there and a bit of the Dasey playfulness:) Review . Only the epilogue atfer this, and if you want, I will write a short one or two shot about Casey telling Derek the truth about the wish, since I couldn't fit it in. Let me know :) **


	21. Epilogue

**If you don't figure it out by reading it, this takes place when Casey and Derek are twenty. Anyway, here is the last update for this story, aka the epilogue! Review! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to LWD, because if I did, there'd be a lot more Dasey : )**

**Epilogue**

Derek, have you seen my cellphone anywhere?" Casey asked, rummaging through the contents of her purse anxiously. "I've been looking for like, twenty minutes and I can't find it."

"Here's an idea for you;" Derek said from his spot on the couch, "Pick up that thing over there called a cordless phone, and call it."

Casey glared at him from across the room, but he took absolutely no notice. He was that focused on his precious hockey game that she was almost certain she could dance naked in front of him and he wouldn't even notice. He was lazing across the couch at the moment, shirtless, and with his hair all messed up. No matter how many times she yelled at him to go get a shower and get dressed, she had to admit that she loved the way he looked when he first woke up in the morning.

But however much she loved his appearance, she knew that they had to get ready, and him lying around on the couch wasn't going to help.

"Derek," she said sternly, placing a hand on her hip pointedly. He didn't even budge. "Derek, I'm serious. You _need _to start getting ready. Lizzie and Edwin's graduation starts in an hour, and if we miss it, they'll never forgive us."

He was unmoved by this statement, and merely took on an amused smile. Casey felt herself grow angry; he always got some sick, twisted pleasure out of getting under her skin.

"Derek, come on, this is your little brother and sister's high school graduation." she reminded him, trying to keep herself calm. Derek answered this time, but his eyes remained set on the screen.

"Edwin missed _our_ high school graduation." he reminded her with a smirk. "It won't make a difference if I'm a few minutes late to his, will it?"

"Derek, Edwin had _mono _on the day of our high school graduation, and he got Lizzie to tape the whole thing so he could watch it afterwards." she said, rolling her eyes. "Now get up, or else I swear to God I won't kiss you for a week, let alone touch you."

Derek's eyes widened at this and his gaze instantly shot over to where Casey was standing, smirking with the knowledge that she had defeated him.

"Graduation?" he asked in a shaky voice as he shot up off the couch and flicked the TV off. "Oh I'm all over it. I _love _graduations." Casey raised an eyebrow and continued to smirk as he crossed the room and came to a stop in front of her. He rushed on. "You know, all the coloured balloons and the food and the crowds-"

"And the knowledge of knowing that your siblings have worked hard for thirteen years to get a good education?" Casey suggested, shooting him a stern look. He nodded his head quickly.

"Yeah, that too." he lied with a fake smile. "Absolutely. Hard work, perseverance, education, all that good stuff." he said, before starting to back up towards the bathroom. "I'm just going to uh .. you know, go get a shower now."

"Uh-huh." Casey replied, trying to bite back a laugh at his attitude. She nodded. "You do that, Der."

"You're welcome to join me if you'd like." he offered, raising an eyebrow at her suggestively. "I promise you I won't complain." She rolled her eyes and picked up a clean towel from the pile of laundry she had just finished folding. She tossed it at him as hard as she could and it hit his chest. He caught it before it fell and pouted at her.

"As tempting as that sounds, I'm going to have to pass." she laughed, trying not to give into the sexy stare he was penetrating her with. She shook her head with the little self control she had left. "Nuh-uh, Derek. Not going to happen. Go get your shower."

"You're no fun anymore." he grumbled, storming into the bathroom. He paused right before he shut the door, sticking his head out through the crack and giving her a suggestive smile. She shook her head.

"The answer is still no." she said in a sing song voice. He glared at her and shut the door. A moment later she heard the shower starting up, and she smiled as she found her cellphone lying underneath Derek's hockey jersey.

"Perfect." she said with a smile, flipping it open and calling the all too familar number of her best friend. It rang a few times before an excited female voice picked up on the other end.

"Casey?" the girl cried in excitement, causing Casey to hold the phone about an inch away from her ear. "Thank god. I _need _your advice on which top to wear. There's the black one, you know, the one Derek said makes me look emo, and then there's the white one, the one that he said makes me look like a giant marshmallow. You know which ones I'm talking about, right?"

Casey frowned.

"Is there anything in your wardrobe that Derek _hasn't _criticized yet?" she asked, making a mental note to hit him later.

"No," Terra said sadly, but she instantly cheered up. "But I don't care. He only does it because last year I told him his that his hockey jersey made him look like a girl. Remember? It was at the beginning of the year and the coach checked the wrong color for the jerseys when he ordered them."

''Oh yeah." Casey said with an amused smile. "I'll never forget how much of a fight Derek put up about having to play the first game of the year in pink and white jerseys. I kept telling him that it takes a real man to wear pink and that he looked cute in it, but then he saw me laughing my ass off at him at half time. I think he slept on the couch that night."

''Good thing they shipped in the black ones for the next game, huh?" Terra said, laughing at the memory. "Anyway, which one should I wear?"

"The black one; definitly the black one." Casey decided with a smile. She heard the bathroom door open up behind her and Derek came out with a towel wrapped around his waist, still soaking wet. Her heart skipped a beat and she had to remind herself to breathe as she tried to summon up enough oxygen to get out a full sentence.

"Uh, Terra?" she stammered into the phone as Derek came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist firmly. "I'm going to have to call you back."

She turned around in Derek's hold, suddenly glad that she hadn't gotten changed yet, as he had managed to get her soaking wet. She wrapped one arm around his neck, and allowed the other to run up and down his chest. She smirked up at him.

"You know, I'm really starting to regret turning down that offer for the shower." she said with a smirk. He grinned down at her, pulling her a little bit closer.

"The offer still stands strong." he whispered hopefully, running one hand up her back and allowing it to tangle through her hair. "After spending the whole day in a crowded room full of people, I'm willing to bet you're going to want to get cleaned up the second you get home?"

"Mmm.. maybe." she said as he kissed her neck. She tilted her head back, a lazy smile plastered across her face despite herself. "D-Derek, stop that. We've got to go get ready."

He smirked and trailed his lips up to hers. She opened her mouth to protest, but he leaned in and kissed her, grabbing both of her wrists in his hands and walking her up against the wall. When she kissed him back, he dropped her wrists and let his hands caress her sides gently. Her hands tangled through his wet hair, the smell of his shampoo intoxicating her. He was still warm from his shower and Casey loved the feel of his damp skin pressed up against her. After a moment, she realized that she was getting distracted again and pulled herself away from him, pushing him backwards a bit.

"Stop that." she said scornfully, swatting his shoulder playfully.

"Stop what?" he asked, clearly disappointed that she had stopped their little grope fest. He frowned. "I'm your boyfriend, I'm allowed to kiss you."

"You did that on purpose." she scowled, folding her arms across her chest. He raised an eyebrow at her as though asking her to explain. She sighed. "You _know _I can't turn you away when you're all wet, and .. and shirtless .. and .. only wearing a towel." she pouted, causing him to smirk and take a step towards her. She kept her gaze fixed on his face, not allowing herself to go any lower than that. If she did, they'd never make it to the graduation. She pressed her hands firmly against his chest to keep him a good foot away from her.

"No, Derek." she said, though hell knows all she wanted to do was kiss him. "We start something, we'll never get out of here. We've got to pick up Terra on the way."

"Oh screw Terra." Derek mumbled, grabbing a much smaller towel off the back of the chair and attempting to wring some of the water out of his hair. She raised an eyebrow.

"That's my best friend you're talking about, thank you very much." she reminded him as she grabbed a brush off of the top of the entertainment center and began to run it through her hair. "Not to mention that she's one of your best friends too."

"Yeah, whatever." Derek sighed, grabbing his clothes off of the back of the kitchen chair. He kissed Casey softly on the lips before walking backwards towards their bedroom. "I'm going to get ready Miss Know-It-All."

Casey rolled her eyes as she heard their bedroom door shut. She sighed. So much had changed in the past three years. Her and Derek were both twenty years old, and they were both attending the University of Toronto. Their parents had driven them up to Toronto the summer after they graduated to help scout out an apartment for them to reside in; seeing as they couldn't remain in London for school. They had insisted on living together, of course, and their parents had approved, knowing that it would be easier on costs, and it would make them happier anyway. They had found a two bedroom apartment, which came in handy whenever one of the kids wanted to stay for the weekend. They had been living together in the apartment peacefully ever since. Well, as peacefully as you could live when you put Derek and Casey under the same roof.

Casey and Derek were still great friends with all of their friends from high school. They still hung out with Emily and Sam on a regular basis, and it wasn't uncommon for Max and Kendra, who were still together, to drop in unexpectedly. Sheldon, much to Emily's dismay, had moved to British Columbia during their senior year. He had originally planned on coming back to Ontario for university, but he had been offered a great scholarship at a university not too far from where he lived. He had thought it out, and decided that he needed to do what was best. They all understood his decision, and still talked to him regularily. Derek, surprisingly enough, had been sorry to see Sheldon go. He said that he'd always found Sheldon to be annoying and creepy, but oddly enough, that was what he missed about him.

The biggest surprise of Casey's life had occured when she had attended her very first class at the University of Toronto and had found herself face to face with her alternate-universe best friend, Terra. Initial shock had prevented Casey from saying more than two words to Terra, but it had finally sunk in, and the two had become fast friends ( again ). Casey had, at first, had a lot of trouble with biting back things that she wasn't supposed to know about Terra, things that she had told her in the other universe. Terra hadn't changed at all; she was still the same hyperactive, energetic and honest best friend that she had been before. Her and Derek were great friends as well, but they loved to constantly insult each other; and occasionally, Casey.

They had hit a snag in their second year of university when Meghan had unexpectedly shown up to surrpise Derek. Much to Casey's initial dismay, she hadn't just been visiting, she had moved back to Ontario; on her own of course. Casey, however much she loved Derek and knew that he loved her back, had been reluctant to allow Derek anywhere near Meghan. It wasn't that she didn't trust Derek; because she did. It was Meghan that she didn't trust. A few arguments had broken out as they all adjusted to the situation, but Casey had understandably felt like an idiot when Meghan's boyfriend Jake showed up a week later, explaining that he'd been finishing up a filming project back in Alberta. Derek and Jake hit it off great, seeing as Derek doing a lot of film studies to persue his dreams of becoming a director. Casey and Meghan had, eventually, become friends, but it had been a very strained relationship at first. It had taken Casey a long time to trust her, but she had learned to forgive and forget. Meghan had Jake, and Casey had Derek, and she had finally accepted that.

As for her and Derek, they were still going strong. Sure, they still had the occasional blow up, but they never let things get as out of hand as they had before. Nearly losing their relationship had taught them a very valuable lesson; one that they wouldn't forget anytime soon. Now, if either of them had a problem with the other, they would come clean and talk it out with each other until it was solved. Neither of them had changed entirely, of course. Derek could still be a jerk from time to time, but whenever he was, Casey was quick to point it out, and he'd try to stop. As for Casey, she still had a couple of high expectations of Derek, but everytime she got too demanding and high-strung he would tell her that she was expecting too much, and she would remember to love Derek for who he was. They both understood that neither of them were perfect; and they were okay with that. Casey had accepted that her Derek, and the Derek from her wish, were two completely different people. The Derek in her wish had been amazing, but so was the real Derek. They were just amazing in two different ways. There was never a day that he didn't make her feel loved and respected, and that was all that really mattered.

- - - - - - - - - -

"How does it feel to be back here, huh? In a room full of high school students?" Derek asked Casey as they scanned the room quickly. He slipped his arm around her waist and observed their surroundings. They were at the after party that Nora and George had thrown for Edwin and Lizzie. It was much like Derek and Casey's after party had been, and Casey leaned her head against Derek's shoulder as they watched Edwin lead Lizzie out onto the dance floor with a smile.

"Aren't they just so cute?" Casey cooed as she watched her little sister laughing at something Edwin had said. She looked up at Derek. "Isn't Lizzie's dress amazing? You can personally credit me, thank you very much; I helped her pick it out. And doesn't Edwin just look adorable in his suit?"

Derek rolled his eyes. "Casey, guys don't want to be called _adorable_. So you can call Edwin adorable all you want." he said quite seriously. "But if you ever call _me _adorable, I might just have to-"

Casey cut him off as an evil smile appeared on her face and she shifted out of his hold, moving so that she was standing in front of him. She folded her arms across her chest.

"Derek Venturi, you are the most amazing, sweet, caring ..."

"Don't even," Derek warned, looking down at her sternly. A mischevious smirk appeared on her face.

"-adorable guy I've ever met." she finished as Derek groaned in frustration. He buried his face in his hands and turned away from her for a moment. When he turned back, he had a pained expression on his face, but she could tell that he was biting back a smile.

"Why'd you go and do that, huh?" he asked her in mock-dismay. "You just completely ruined my self confidence. I've worked for years on end to build up my tough guy rep, and then you just-"

Casey cut him off with hysterical laughter. His jaw stiffened and he frowned down at her impatiently.

"_What _is so funny?" he asked her sternly as she caught her breath. She smiled as she looked back up at him.

"Sorry," she got out breathlessly. "But are you talking about the same guy who tells me he loves me about twenty five times a day? Or the guy who absolutely _loves _Valentines Day and anniversaries, even if he'd never admit it to anybody but me? Or maybe we're talking about the guy who finds it cute when I call him sweetheart."

"Alright, stop it!" Derek growled, covering her mouth with his hand quickly. He looked over his shoulder frantically, as though afraid someone had heard her. Slowly, he uncovered her mouth and let his hand drop down and slip into hers. "Geez woman, you don't let that sort of thing slip in public."

"What sort of thing?" she asked, the smile never leaving her face. She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you mean the fact that you're an absolute sweetheart?"

"_Casey!_" he hissed, but she leaned up and covered his lips with hers, preventing him from saying anything else. As much as he was trying to pretend like he was angry, he was never one to turn away from one of her kisses, and his arms wrapped instinctively around her waist, pulling her impossibly closer. She felt him smiling against her lips and she pressed her hands against his back firmly, holding him tighter to her. An amused cough from behind them about half a minute later was what finally broke them apart. Casey turned around, her arms around Derek's neck, and smiled sheepishly at her mother.

"You know, this reminds me an awful lot of _your _high school graduation." Nora said with an amused smile as Casey tried to inconspiculously wipe her mouth; failing terribly. "You two have seriously got to keep the PDA on the DL."

The only thing that kept the both of them from cracking up laughing at that point was their respect for Nora; though Derek did admittedly turn away quickly, and Casey had to bite her lip from saying anything criticizing. After a moment, she controlled the need to laugh and allowed herself to speak.

"Mom, have you been reading more internet articles on how to communicate with your children?" she asked knowingly. Nora's eyes widened and a blush crept onto her cheeks rapidly.

''Who, _me_?" she asked, waving a hand carelessly. "Oh, _no_! Of course not! I'm just going to go .. check if .. George needs help with the .. uh .. well, bye!"

With that said, she turned her back and shuffled off in the other direction, grumbling to herself about faulty websites. Derek turned back to Casey and laughed, before pulling her against his chest into a tight hug. His arms wrapped around her waist tightly and he buried his face into the space between her shoulder and her neck. She let her chin rest on his shoulder as her arms wrapped around his neck. She smiled to herself. She loved the way that she just fit into his arms perfectly, and the way that he could always make her feel safe and protected. She closed her eyes as he kissed the side of her head and let his lips trail down, stopping right next to her ear.

"I love you." he whispered, and she could have sworn she felt herself melt into his arms. "You know that, don't you?"

As hard as she tried, she couldn't wipe the stupid smile off of her face. She found it amusing that he would even have to ask that question after three and a half years together. If there was one thing that she was sure of, it was that Derek loved her, and she loved Derek. She nodded, kissing the side of his head gently.

"Of course I know that, Derek." she said softly, running her fingers along the base of his neck gently. She could have sworn she heard him breathe in sharply when she did this, but she let it go. "I love you too."

"You'd better." he said with a grin, as he pulled back enough so that he could look her right in the eye. Casey laughed and leaned her head back down against his shoulder for a moment, her eyes still scanning the room curiously. She raised her head again when she spotted Tinker, who was there with his younger brother Joey, who happened to be friends with Edwin and Lizzie. She bit her lip and looked back up at Derek.

"Tinker looks_ insanely _jealous." she noted, glancing over at the redhead, who was, indeed, eyeing Derek and Casey with an envy that Casey hadn't seen since her high school days; when Derek's fan girls would burst into tears everytime Derek so much as held Casey's hand. Derek glanced behind his shoulder long enough to catch a glimpse of Tinker's jealousy. He turned back to Casey with a smirk.

"Well he should be jealous," Derek said with a shrug, as he tangled his fingers through Casey's hair. "I've got the most amazing girl in all of Canada in my arms, and what does he have? Nothing."

Derek glanced at Tinker again, and raised an eyebrow.

"I think he's checking out your ass." Derek said in mock anger. Casey smirked.

"Can you blame him?" she asked in a cocky sort of way. Derek knew she was joking, but he shrugged and shook his head.

"Can't say I do," he admitted, but then his face turned serious. "But just in case, I think I should go kick his ass."

"Derek!" she said, smacking his shoulder lightly. He pulled away from her and rubbed his shoulder as though she had actually hurt him.

"That's what I get for trying to defend your honour?" he asked, pretending to be hurt. He pouted. "Fine, I'll never do it again; happy?"

Casey laughed and took his hand, leading him out to where crowds of people were dancing to a slower song that she recognnized instantly as 'their' song. He placed one hand on her hip and the other on the small of her back, moving closer to her so that she was leaning against his chest. They didn't say a word for a moment, but Casey could have sworn that he was shaking. He only shook when he was scared, nervous, or in pain, and she couldn't see why he should be scared or in pain while dancing with her; but there also wasn't much sense in being nervous either. When he spoke again, however, he seemed perfectly fine.

"The party turned out great, baby." he said to her, his chin resting lightly on the top of her head. "You, your Mom, and Lizzie did an excellent job putting it together."

"Aww, thank you, Der." she said, running a hand through his hair casually. His hand slipped a little bit further down her back.

"Did you have fun planning it?" he asked. Casey thought back to the countless hours that she had spent back at home with her mother and Lizzie, working out the fine details, since Edwin and George wanted no part in 'foolish planning' , as they had called it at the time. They had definitly had a lot of laughs; and it had almost reminded her of old times, back when it was just her and her mother and Lizzie. She was careful not to wish for those days too much though; she knew how _that_ had turned out. She smiled softly.

"Yeah; I really did." she admitted, letting her hand untangle from Derek's hair and trail down to rest on the back of his neck. "I think I might sort of miss it; it was exciting."

"Oh yeah?" Derek asked, his voice definitly shaking now. Casey was going to question it, but he continued. "Well, how would you like to help me plan something?"

Casey didn't even raise her head up from Derek's shoulder. She rubbed small circles on his back without thought, staring at the room around her. She watched as Edwin let Lizzie's old friend, Jamie, cut in.

"What is it, baby?" she asked, used to this sort of thing. "Is it another project for film class? Because I already told you I'm not really into the whole acting thing. I'm more of a dancer."

She could sense Derek shaking his head above her, indicating that she was wrong.

"Not a film project, Case." he said, his voice wavering on every note. His body seemed stiffer than usual and he held her tighter to his chest. "How would you feel about planning a wedding?"

Casey's heart seemed to skip a beat as her mind registered what he had just said. She stopped moving in time with the music, and pulled back, looking into his nervous eyes with surprise. He was shaking, and worry was etched across his face prominently. She tried to speak, but her voice didn't appear to be working. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, before finally managing to get out;

"What do you mean?"

Derek brought a shaking hand down to the pocket of his jacket, and pulled out a black, velvet box. He opened it with trembling fingers and lowered himself onto one knee. Casey didn't even realize that everybody around them had stopped to observe what was going on. Judging by the smiles on their faces, they had all known what Derek was going to do. She looked back down at him as he took her hand and kissed the back of it gently, his eyes never leaving hers.

"I love you, Casey." he said softly, his voice still nervous. "I know I may drive you crazy half of the time, and hell, you drive me crazy too, but I think that's what keeps our relationship so exciting for me; the fact that you always present a challenge in my life. I love that about you. Everyday of my life is always amazing because you're in it, and I want to be able to wake up to that every single day for the rest of my life. I hope you'll let me have that." he said, a small smile on his face. "Casey, will you marry me?"

If she could have moved or breathed, it might have been possible to get out an answer at that moment; but she had nothing. Her body remained completely immobile as she stared at Derek with a mix of surprise and shock. She was having trouble processing what he had just said to her. With each second that passed, Derek was growing more and more nervous, and she knew it. She wanted to say something to put his mind at ease, but everytime she tried to open her mouth to say something, the words would die away before they were even spoken.

"Out of all the times in the world, you choose _now _to _finally_ be quiet." Derek said, with an attempt at humor. Hearing his voice is what finally snapped her out of her reverie, and a smile suddenly broke out onto her face. She realized what he had just said and smacked his shoulder. Derek's eyebrows scrunched together and he scowled, rubbing his shoulder. He stood back up and frowned at her.

"You know, if that's what I get for doing something absolutely-"

"-adorable." she finished teasingly, before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. He was actually surprised by this action, and it took him a moment to respond to her kiss. He placed one hand on the back of her head and pulled her closer, the other hand still holding the ring. He pulled back for a moment, staring into her eyes with not as much worry as before, but he still seemed to be a bit on edge.

"So, does that mean-" he started, but trailed off when he saw her nodding her head with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. Relief washed over him and his eyes widened.

"Y-You will?"

"I can't believe you'd even have to ask that." she got out, choking over her own tears. She gave a choppy laugh and wiped a tear away. "If you think I'd say no, you're crazy."

"No; being crazy is _your _job." he teased with a grin, slipping the ring onto her finger and pulling her into a hug. She heard people around them clapping for the two of them, but she was barely paying attention to any of them. She was too wrapped up in Derek.

This had to be one of the best days of her life; no questions asked. For the rest of the graduation party, she couldn't wipe the stupid smile off of her face, she was that happy. It didn't take her too long to notice that Derek's face wore a similar look. She didn't feel like as big of an idiot after that. Derek kept smiling at her and occasionally pulling her into the corner of the room for quick makeout sessions, which always seemed to be interrupted by one of their parents amused, yet totally parental coughs.

Casey had to admit; the wish had caused a whole lot of trouble for her and Derek at first. The fight that they had gone through in high school had definitly made her wonder if their relationship would ever last. But she knew now that their relationship was entirely stable, and it was all because she had realized that Derek wasn't perfect, and he never would be. But to her, he was as perfect as he'd ever have to be. She didn't expect him to be flawless. She recognized that everybody had their flaws, even her. She had a tendency of being judgemental and high-maintenance, but Derek too, knew that there was no such thing as the 'perfect' relationship, no matter how much they loved each other.

Despite how much trouble the wish had caused, Casey was sort of glad it had happened. Without it, she may just regard Derek was the annoying, egotistical jerk that she had been forced to live with throughout her adolesence . And now? She was marrying the guy.

Derek looked down at her as they danced to a reasonably fast paced song together. He saw the smile that was etched into her features, and she knew that the same thoughts were going through his head right about now. Well, minus the wish. She knew that he was just as happy about the outcome of things as she was. He smirked and leaned down, pressing a quick kiss against her lips, before pulling back and twirling her around, laughing. Casey laughed right along with him. There may not be a flawless person out there, but right now, she could only think of one way to describe her and Derek. They were as close to perfection than perhaps anyone else had ever gotten.

'_A taste of perfection.' _she thought to herself. Dizzy from all the turning, she stumbled, but Derek caught her around the waist, shooting her one of his amazing smiles. She smiled right back at him. They weren't perfect; they just had a taste of perfection. She laughed.

_'Close enough.'_

* * *

The ending gave me a bit of trouble, so sorry if it seems rushed. I just HAD to bring Terra back, even if it was only briefly :) Characters may be a bit OOC, but its a few years into the future and they've had more of a chance to get used to each other and mature and all that! Anyway, thanks to everybody who read and reviewed this story :) I love you guys, aha! One more time, please review! It means a lot! Since basically all of you wanted the twoshot, I'll do it. It should be up in a few days ! Thanks again to everyone who read this story :)


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